Mary Ann Syer: My Handcart Hero

Ok, so now it's been a LONG time since I've posted a story. We lost my Grandma Haun to MSA in March and between that and school and work I just haven't had time. But, I am trying to get back on track. I still don't know how frequent I will be, but hey, at least I am trying. So to make up for my long absence, I thought I would share with you one of my most favorite ancestors. And I mean favorite.

Mary Ann Syer was a hardcore pioneer renegade woman. And that appeals to me greatly. I like to think that my particular badass streak comes from her.

She was born in Nacton, Suffolk, England on January 1st or 2nd. The year gets a little fuzzy because apparently she frequently "used a woman's privilege of being younger than she was" when asked. Near as I can tell, it's between 1793-1795.

Her parents were William Syer and a Mary Ann whose last name was probably Fenn but that's not official. Her mom died when she was two or three and around 1803-ish her dad remarried. William became the official wheelwright of Waldringfield. His second wife died, presumably of birth complications of a son in 1815. He remarried a third time in 1816.

I haven't been able to dig up a lot on her childhood, though several accounts I have read through all agree on one thing: she did not get along with her first stepmother. One account claims she worked as a dairy maid and sang songs to the cows to get them to make more milk.

What I do know, is she married a William Smith in 1820ish and he was a butt. Like a huge butt. A huge drunk butt who beat her up a lot. She had five little girls with him: Mary Ann, Charlotte, Emma, Percella, and Hannah. Emma was the only child to live to adulthood. Mary Ann lost Charlotte in 1823, and Mary Ann Jr, Percella, and Hannah in 1832. Three kids gone in one year must have tore mama Mary Ann apart. Whatever happened that year, she must have had enough. True fact, I havent been able to find out what happened to William Smith. He either died (I wouldn't blame her if she killed him. Who knows) or she just decided to leave his drunk butt.

Nonetheless, She and little Emma found themselves doing odd jobs for the next while until 1837 she married a pretty rich tailor names William White. He had three kids of his own and I bet Mary Ann was longing for some more kiddos. And on top of the step kids she got, she had three more kids of her own. Elizabeth (My ancestor), Barnard, and Richard. When I say William White was a pretty rich tailor I mean LOADED for the 1800s. He had a big ol' tailor shop of his very own. Then he freakin died in 1842. Poor Mary Ann. But he did leave her a lot of cash (though his sons from his first marriage got most). But she had enough.

Unfortunately, as one account puts it "A widow with some money is often the prey of an unscrupulous man." And so it was. She married a William Hill (Someone's got a thing for Williams) and he was almost a big a butt as the very first William. He basically took all her money, spent it all, and died. Well, presumably died. Again, no one is really quite sure what happened to him. And it is at this point that Mary Ann decided she aint need no man and opened her own little clothing/laundromat sort of thing. And it is here that we find one of my favorite stories, taken from the Barnard White Family Book.

A Fichus is like a lace shawl

"Mary Ann was an independent and shrewd business woman. When her fortunes were at a low ebb, she established a hand laundry for special laces, fishus, and dainty clothes. She hired a number of women to help her and carried on a very successful business. On one occasion some fichus disappeared. Mary Ann was sure that one of the women working for her had taken them. For all she was small in stature she was indomitable in will. She forced the women to undress and she searched their clothing. Under the skirts of a Mrs. Legbeater she found the missing articles. After that no one dared try to steal from Mary Ann."

AKA, my great grandma conducted a strip search in Victorian England and I LOVE HER.

Sometimes when a person faces a lot of tragedy early on and through out their life, like Mary Ann, one tends to lose whatever since of God or religion they might have. And Mary did. She was never really religious. And then some LDS missionaries came to her door. Mary was baptized on March 11th, 1854, with many of her children to follow.

Mary Ann's Entry in the Horizon Passenger Log

It became Mary Ann's dream to go to Zion to be with the Saints. But several deaths in the family and the sheer financial burden of crossing an ocean halted those dreams.

Now her son Barnard's only dream was to be in the Royal Navy, however he was cursed with my ancestors (and my own) continual curse of being small of stature. And he missed the Royal Navy's minimum height requirement by half an inch. Which I thoroughly believe was a higher powers doing because soon after being turned down by the Navy, some missionaries offered to take him to America so he could get his fill of the sea. And it would save Mary Anne the cost of taking him with her when she was able to cross. So she sent him off in 1855 to America where I believe he worked in a farm near New York until his mother and family where able to arrive. He was about 15 years old at the time.

Mary Ann, like most of the European Saints who wanted to come to America literally gave up almost everything. Mary Ann sold the houses she was left in William White's will. She sold her business, a 1775 china tea set, all her silver stuff, and many precious things. Finally, on May 25th, 1856. Mary Ann set sail from Liverpool aboard the Horizon, a ship filled with Latter Day Saints. I find it highly poetic that my dear Mary Ann sailed on the Horizon toward her Zion. I also stumbled on this beautiful painting by Kenneth L. Rasmussen of the Horizon docked at Liverpool. I adore it.

Elizabeth White, Mary Ann's daughter and my ancestor, remarked in her autobiography that "We had a pleasant voyage with the exception of one storm. We had three deaths and three weddings. We had 856 passengers on board, all of the Mormon faith" They landed in Boston on June 20th, 1856 where Mary Ann was reunited with her son Barnard, who she exclaimed had gone from a boy to Man. From Boston, they took a train 1500 miles to Iowa City. Which was less pleasant than the ship according to Elizabeth, in a car with no seats and crammed like sardines. From Iowa City they walked 4 miles in the rain to a Mormon campground, and then traveled with their wagons to Omaha, Nebraska.

Mary Ann and her family were fortunate enough to be able to afford their own wagon and oxen, thus joining an independent handcart company under the leadership of Captain John Hunt also made of members who could afford their own handcart or wagon. Being late in the season, the danger of not making it to Utah before harsh winters set in forced a choice. Winter in Omaha, or push forward. They, along with the other companies also in Omaha decided to push on. And they set forth for Zion on September 3rd, 1956. Two days behind the Martin and Willie Handcart companies.

All was relatively still ok until they came to the last crossing of the Platte River. And then it started to get cold, and they still had to cross. I would like to point out that at this time Mary Ann was around 63, Elizabeth was 18, and Barnard was 16.

"In a few days we caught up to the Martin Handcart Company and many of them were getting quite worn out. The weather was fair and we got along quite well until we were well up the Platte River. Then the weather turned cold and stormy, and the handcart company was on one half rations. We were about 400 miles from Salt Lake City. The poor souls were giving out every day and laying their bodies down by the wayside." -Barnard

"It was getting cold. We finally reached the last crossing of the Platte River. Our company camped on the east side and the handcart company passed over that night. All our able bodied men turned out to help them carry women and children over the river. Some of our men went through the river seventy-five times. During the night six inches of snow fell. It was a terrible night for them. This was on the 20th of October." -Elizabeth

"Their suffering was intense that night, and the next morning there were thirteen dead bodies in camp. An old gentleman went out to get some wood, and the wolves caught him and ate and carried off his body. All that remained was his shoes and the feet were in them." -Barnard

After the crossing food started to get scarce. Soon, the men in the Hunt company were forced to start killing their own oxen, who were dying anyway. What little meat they had was willingly shared with the Martin company, with whom they had caught up with. Even though they themselves were near starving, Barnard remarked on the Martin company:

"They would rather die than live; and so much was this the feeling that a strong guard was kept at the rear to drive them along. They appeared to be like a lot of worn out cattle, lost all modesty and had no feeling for anything except to eat and die, but I cannot find language to express the sufferings of these people, and God forbid that I should ever witness such scenes again. " -Barnard

"We reached Devil's Gate. We could go no farther. Three of our oxen and one cow had died, and the rest of the company were in about the same condition. We had nothing to burn, only the sage brush from under the snow, and melt the snow off the sage for water to make our tea. We made our bread with sage water and soda, what little we had. The snow was then from three to ten inches deep. The ground was frozen so hard they could not drive the tent pins, so they had to raise the tent poles and stretch out the flaps and bank them with snow." -Elizabeth

It was at this point that Mary Ann, believing herself to be near death gathered her family. She remarked that her last wish was that her children make it to Zion. She told them she had no doubt the Lord would provide. And her faith was rewarded.

For in early October Brigham Young , who had not known of the late starting handcart companies, heard of their condition and sent the famous rescue companies east to find the desperately struggling saints.

"We were almost out of provisions. Our dear mother said she had never seen her dear family want for bread, but said the Lord would provide. About midnight that night all had retired, and we were awakened with a noise and thought it was the yelling of Indians. We got up expecting they were upon us, but to our great surprise the noise was caused by the teamsters of a relief train and some of the camp shouting for joy. They were loaded with all kinds of provisions --flour, bread, butter, meat of all kinds, but all frozen very hard. Everything was so good. The bread was like cake so sweet and nice. I remember we had to cut everything with a hatchet, but, oh, how thankful we all were that the Lord had answered our prayers and saved us from starvation. Through the timely action of Brigham Young in organizing the company, we were saved." -Elizabeth

Elizabeth was then sent ahead to help with a group of the elderly and young. Mary Ann and the remainder of her family would struggle forward for two more weeks, still near starvation, before being forced to camp near For Bridger for ten days. Then another relief team arrived with more food.

"The next morning we started for Salt Lake City. It took us ten days to go 115 miles passing through heavy snows. At night we would clear away the snow and pile some logs up and set them on fire. They would burn all night and helped to keep us from freezing. Our journey over Big Mountain can never be forgotten. The snow had drifted 20 feet deep, and we had to cut channels as much as ten feet deep. I had no shoes or boots on; my feet were in rags. On the morning of the 13th of December 1856 we passed through Emigration Canyon, and as we emerged there from we beheld with joy Salt Lake City about five miles in the distance." -Barnard

"Mary Ann sank into the snow and cried--whether in disappointment or in joy or both no one will ever know. This was the first time her family had seen her show any emotion except courage and deep faith. After the storm of tears was over, she wiped her eyes and trudged on down the trail, chin up and proud of their achievement. This same staunch courage kept her head high as they went through the streets of Salt Lake City, starving, careworn and weary, while the curious looked on at the last remnant of the pioneers of 1856. " -Barnard White Family Book

The following spring a Cabin was built in Draper for Mary Ann and Barnard (Elizabeth had married). in 1861 she moved with Barnard to Cache Valley to a little town called Paradise. Where her she was faced with her ongoing struggle to quit drinking tea. When she did quit, her health went down fast and Barnard raced to Salt Lake City to buy his mom some tea. When she protested he said "there is wisdom in all things and that if she needed her tea she should drink it"

And she did. And she got better. She spent that last few years of her life living between Barnard and Elizabeth, surrounded by her grandchildren. In 1882 Mary Ann suffered a stroke, completely paralyzing her. She passed on August 22nd, 1882, surrounded by her family. She had stated many times that the only husband she wanted waiting for her was William White, and was thus buried with the surname White, instead of Hill.

"On the twenty second of August, 1882, in Ogden, Utah, my dear Mother died at 7:15 A.M. She was 89 and 8 months old. She fell asleep without a struggle which was predicted upon her head by Patriarch Thomas Richardson. She was beloved by all who knew her. This was a day of great sorrow for me and I might say mingled with joy that she had laid down her body to rest from her labors. I hope that I shall be able to live so that I may be worthy of her society.

She was a most excellent woman, of strong determination and executive ability and genial disposition. She made friends wherever she went. She was a kind and affectionate mother and a strong advocate of the principles of the Gospel. I never knew her to waver. She was always willing to suffer trials and privations for the Gospel's sake and will certainly gain . the reward of the faithful. I thank God that I have been true to her as her son under all circumstances. My conscience is clear, and I know that I shall meet her again on the other side if I am faithful to the end."

I would like to take this opportunity to share my testimony with whoever stumbles across this page. I know my church is true with all my heart. I know that up there is a Heavenly Father who loves me in an unfathomable way. I know that he only sends us trials to make us stronger and to teach us. And I know, without a doubt, that when it comes my time he will be waiting with open arms and that someday I will get to meet my amazingly strong Grandma Mary Ann.

"Let us never forget that we have a marvelous heritage received from great and courageous people who endured unimaginable suffering and demonstrated unbelievable courage for the cause they loved. You and I know what we should do. God help us to do it when it needs to be done." - Gordon B. Hinckley

The Haun Tartans

So recently my uncle Rock asked if I knew which tartan (Scottish kilt pattern) belonged to our family. I thought this would make a great post (since I haven't posted in a while)! Now if you want some in-depth history of tartans, check here, but basically a tartan is "a woolen cloth woven in one of several patterns of plaid, especially of a design associated with a particular Scottish clan."

If you have ever been to the Payson Scottish festival, you may have noticed the section with all the booths dedicated to clans. You may have even searched all the surname boards to try and find YOUR clan. Well, if you're related to me, you don't have to do that because I have already done some research on it. Both sides of my family actually have roots in several clans, so you do have a choice of which tartan you want to sport at the next festival.

Let's start with the Haun side.

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HAUN CLAN'S

Unfortunately, the Haun name is German and is not associated with any Scottish clan. However, despite the fact our last name IS German, us Haun's are quite a bit Scottish. I'd say we are 40% Scottish, 40% English, 10% German, and 10% Other.

I've traced each line to the point where they crossed the ocean and a lot came from Scotland to America. I have ten ancestors on my Haun side who made the trip from Scotland to America at some point in time. I've included a visual aid to show where in Scotland they came from. Now this doesn't mean I only have ten Scottish ancestors, it means ten of my ancestors left Scotland and came to America. The ancestors above them in the trees are also Scottish. Also notice the concentration in the south-east area of Scotland. A lot of those are in the Fife district.

Side Note: while researching this, I actually went further back in my tree than I ever have been on some of these lines. And I found some pretty interesting stuff Im excited to post about....eventually.

Now when you trace all the lines and look up all the surnames, the Haun's can fit into 4 main clans: Clan Gordon, Clan MacDuff, Clan Jardine, and Clan Gunn. You could also use the Fife district tartan which is the Duke of Fife's tartan, but since we aren't direct descendants of the Duke of Fife, I went with the general Fife's, who are included in Clan MacDuff. There are a couple minor clans we could claim, but most of them end up being assimilated by the big clans in the end so I'm going to say that Haun's have the best claims at these four clans.

Let's take a look at each of those individually.


CLAN GUNN

Clan Gunn Modern

We Haun's can claim Clan Gunn through the Monson and Thompson sides of our family. I also can claim Clan Gunn on my moms side too so ultimate Clan Gunn for me. And just so you know, we are the norse-side of the descendant of this clan. Anyways, Clan Gunn is "descendant from the Norse Jarls or Earls of Orkney and from the ancient Celtic Mormaers of Caithness through Ragnhild, daughter of Moddan in Dale, son of Moddan, Mormaer (High Steward) of Caithness, who was killed in 1040, and granddaughter of Saint Rognvald, Jarl of Orkney, who married Gunni, the reputed name-father of the Clan. Gunni was himself a grandson of Sweyn Asleif's-son, the 'Ultimate Viking' and hero of the Orkneyinga Saga."

Now I know that that sounded like you opened a "History of the Empire" book in Skyrim or like some strange-butt scroll in Lord of the Rings but yah...there's some stuff going on in ancient Scotland. If you want to read a lot longer history, you can go here, but here are the highlights.

So this Ragnhild chick inherited a bunch of land, which then went to Gunni's son Snaekoll which means white head, cool name bruh, but he had to forfeit the land because he murdered the Jarl in Orkney, not cool bruh. But Snake-man (As I have taken to call him) did build the first "Castle Gunn" which was like three twigs and some stones on the side of a cliff, but fancy for the time. And that castle was burned down by some angry Norwegians because Snake-man had a fake lighthouse and basically caused a whole boat of them to crash.

Clan Gunn Ancient

Over the next few hundred years the Gunn's gradually lost more and more land to the Keith's and the Sinclair's. Then in the 1400's there was this dude named George Gunn, nickname "Am Braisdeach Mor" which means Big Broochy, and he fought with Clan Kieth in little battles. Most important the Battle at Tayre's Chapel where us Gunns kinda...tricked the Kieth's and then killed them all. Then there was a peace treaty. Then Big Broochy died and his three oldest sons kinda split up. One of his younger sons, William Gunn stayed in Caithness and it is from him we get the Wilson Gunns, which I believe is where my Wilson side came from.

Clan Gunn lives to modern times, though the majority of the clansmen do not have the name Gunn since everyone split up and then like...only had daughters. They meet in Caithness every three years for a big party. I've also included pictures of the Modern and Ancient Gunn Tartans. If you were to buy a Gunn kilt now, might I suggest the Modern one since, hate to break it to ya, we are modern.



CLAN GORDON

Gordon Modern

We Haun's can claim Clan Gordon through the Gardner side of our family. Gordon was a land name in the 1000's. The Baron of Gordon in 1150 was the first recorded person using that name/title.

In 1306ish Sir Adam of Gordon went to Rome to ask the pope to not excommunicate Robert the Bruce (King of the Scots) after he killed Red Comyn in a church. So that's interesting. Sir Alexander Gordon became Earl of Huntly in 1449, they had Huntly Castle. The Gordons went to fight for the King and the Douglas family came and burned their castle, such weenies. The Gordons came back and literally destroyed the Douglas family. Never make a Gordon mad.

With no Douglas' the Gordon family pretty much grew unchecked and basically became royalty. "As the Douglases were removed from all their positions of power, the Gordons grew without challenge. Their near-regal status earned their chiefs the still-used nickname “Cock ‘o the North”"

Gordon Dress Modern

I thought that was funny since Haun means cock/rooster. The Gordon's got so big that they literally avoided the reformation and remained Catholic. That being said, they fought with Mary, Queen of the Scotts and several Gordons were beheaded along with her. After that some weenie took over the Gordon house and a lot of people blame him and the Gordons for Scotland not gaining their independence in their war for independence. He was beheaded after the war.

As far as tartans go, I really like the Gordon ones. Especially the modern and modern dress. If I ever got a kilt or a fly or whatever, I'd probably get it in a Gordon style.





CLAN JARDINE

Jardine Modern

Haun's can claim Clan Jardine through our Jardine line. Also, you could argue that we can claim it through the Gardner line as well, but I think we fit more with the Clan Gordon Gardners than these.

Anywho, the Jardine's made their way to Scotland sometimes during the Norman conquests of the 1000s. It is a French name, and their symbol is an apple blossom. However their motto is "Beware, I am here" Very non-apple-like.

So they settled a place they named Applegirth in Scotland and built Spedlings Tower. Which they had to move from after they starved a dude to death in their dungeon and his ghost haunted them. So they moved across the river and built Jardine Hall. The Jardine's were like the Scottish border patrol. They were constantly fighting off the English. They had their buddies come up from France to help squash those damn Britts.

The Jardine family originally supported Mary, Queen of Scots, until her crazy-butt scandals and then they supported her baby sons right to the throne. And then the Jardine chief married off his daughter the freakin Douglas'. The 4th Baronet of Jardine became a Knight of Malta and remained celibate. The title passed to his brother.

In 1873 Frank Jardine married a Samoan Princess (not even kidding) and moved to Australia. A William Jardine became a Dr and sold opium-based remedies in the Far East during the British Occupation of India.

Currently: "Sir William Jardine, 13th Baronet and 24th Chief, born in 1984, is active in promoting clan activities and is a member of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs."

And they have like the worst tarten.



CLAN MACDUFF

Finally, we Haun's can claim Clan MacDuff through the Fife and Spencer side of our family.

MacDuff Modern

Clan MacDuff is SUPER cool because Shakespeare's MacBeth is based off of MacBeth and his wife Queen Gruoch (AKA Lady MacBeth). Queen Gruoch was the senior representative of clan MacDuff at the time.

Eventually Aedh Canmore became the Earl of Fife. After his death the Fife and Duff title did not return until 1759 with William Duff, who became the Earl of Fife.

"Later Alexander, the sixth Earl of Fife, married the Princess Royal, HRH Louise (daughter of King Edward VII).

The direct line of the ancient house, continued in Wemyss whilst in the northern territories, families of Clan Duff emerged in historical record with no proof of royal descent."

Pretty straightforward clan eh? And the tartan's are decent. A little Christmas-y for my tastes.




And that's the history of the clans that the Haun's can claim. Grab a tartan and party at the next Scottish festival like the informed person you now are!

William Heaps: Cheese Thief

Hopefully you have read my previous post located here. In it I talk about the craziness that went on with the Heaps/Spencer side of my family. I promised I'd elaborate more on the people in there, and here to fulfill my promise...I present William Heaps, the first husband of Mary Cragg. This post will just be on William, since I prefer to group Mary with her second husband. This post will also just be on William because frankly, the guy needs his own post. (Note: if you look him up on familysearch, LJTB-JH9, the photo's they have on there for him are incorrect. They are actually photo's of his grandson.)

William Henry Heaps was born in December of 1809 in Garstang, England. Garstang is a small market town near Lancaster. Around the time that William was born, the town was quite prosperous for being so small. It's on a canal that was used to transport all sorts of stuff, and almost everyone in the town was a trader of some sort. Garstang was famous during the early 1800s for producing the finest quality rope, it was also famous for the "Garstang Cattle and Cheese Fair." It was considered the "crossroads" town between Preston and Lancaster. The ruins of Greenhalgh Castle overlook the town. 

I don't know a lot about his childhood, I know that his father was in the British military and may have been in India at the time of his birth (I expect to learn more about that when I research his father specifically). I also know that the Napoleonic Wars were underway and there were some food shortages going on in Britain. Whatever struggles his childhood held, he still managed to marry Mary Cragg in December of 1831. Mary was also from Garstang. They were together for 7ish years and had 3 confirmed kids, two of which are my grandpas at some point. 

William's entry in an England Criminal Register

And then William decided to be a criminal. On October 18th, 1837 he is charged with Larceny, for the theft of a carriage-load of cheese. (I wonder if he stole it during the Cheese fair eh?). He is tried in Lancashire, England, found guilty, and sentenced to 7 years transportation. Which means he will be banished from England and will be sent to the penal colonies in Australia. Let me just say that being banished from your country for stealing cheese seems....a tad excessive... If you notice on the image of the register I included, several men were charged with receiving stolen goods, which was a consequence of the smuggling problem in Britain brought about by the Napoleonic Wars. Also note the wild difference in sentencing for these criminals. Other dudes who were charged with larceny got like 1 month in prison. But you know...apparently Britain takes it's cheese theft more seriously.

Moving on, William spent about half a year imprisoned on a hulk ship named the "Fortitude" moored at Chatham awaiting his transportation. A hulk ship is a ship that has lived out it's service days and can basically only float now. So England used them as prisons. This image to the left is a UK Prison Hulk Register for the Fortitude. On it you can see William's entry. It lists when and where he was convicted and how he stole cheese. What I love though, is it also lists that he can read (but not write) and that he will be a laborer. I also love that the Gaoler's report on him is that he has "bad habits in prison for poaching" which is where that stealing a deer thing I mentioned in my last post comes from. Also, it was kinda funny to read all the crimes the other people were convicted of, and their respective sentencing. I quite like the man who got 7 years for stealing a duck.

Anyway, he was at some time transported to a ship called the Bengal Merchant and that ship took him all the way to Botany Bay in New South Wales, Australia. He was one of 270 prisoners aboard the ship. The journey took about 4 months. They landed in Botany Bay on July 21, 1838. Now apparently, convict labor in 1800s Australia was really just slang for slavery. People in the area paid and laid claims for workers, essentially buying them. I also tracked down this newspaper article that ran in the Saturday 28 July 1838 Edition of The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser. Found here. It's a to-the-editor article and in it some dude is complaining about the shortage of "convict servants" (maybe the reason they are sending a butt-ton of people to Australia for stealing cheese and ducks?) and the problems with allocating the labor. He pleads for the government to implement a "regular and just system of assignment."

Certificate of Freedom

I hope that William didn't go to that guy. But all I really know is that he was assigned to farm labor where presumably he worked until December 11th, 1844 when he was issued his certificate of freedom and became a free man. His certificate also provides a physical description of William. He apparently was 6ft tall and is described as having a "Dark and freckled complexion, dark brown hair, and dark brown eyes." He is also listed as having "eyebrows meeting, mole on right cheek, breast hairy, purple natural mark on the back of left hand, scar on middle finger of left hand, and mark of a boil on right knee" I drew a picture for your visual pleasure. Also, if at any point we try to bring back the descriptive term "breast hairy" I officially give permission to the aliens to blow up Earth.

What a babe

And apparently he gained his freedom, instead of going back to his wife and children (which I looked up, after he got his certificate of freedom, he was legally able to go back to Britain, but nah) he ran off to Pennsylvania where he may or may not (haven't found reliable proof) have married another lady. Mary Cragg told all her kids he died on the boat, she really...lost faith in him real quick. Probably because who wants to say they are married to a dirty cheese thief who got banished from Britain. But he does show up in one Pennsylvania census and he died on February 8th, 1882 in Pennsylvania. So yeah. Class act fella. Idk what his circumstances were for stealing cheese, and he did kinda get screwed by the British justice system (7 years for cheese?) but yeah...still not my most favorite ancestor. But wildly fun to research. And still not as bad as witch hunter guy right?

The Heaps/Spencers: AKA I'm My Own Grandpa

Oh boy let me tell you what a struggle sorting out this side of my family is. This will just be a short post on getting on the connections sorted out, I will post stories about each person/couple in more detail separately later.

I was originally trying to do a story on Joseph Spencer and Mary Cragg, my 4th-great grandparents on my paternal grandmothers side. The first issue is when I noticed Mary Cragg is my 4th-great grandma twice and my 5th-great grandma at one point. Needless to say, I was confused. I started trying to determine if their was an error in my records, or the church records, or an error anywhere! I didn't understand what was going on. But thanks to a buddy in my research group, the US West Genealogy Research Community, we got it sorted and discovered there was no error...just an extremely weird set of events and marriages that let's just say...they didn't travel far from the shallow end of the gene pool.

To understand all of this I have decided to create a visual aid. Prepare for the most amazing Microsoft Paint skills you have ever seen.

Can a girl draw or what? Anyway, the stuff in the black lines is what I want you to look at. Notice that Mary Cragg appears three times. She was married to William Heaps first, and then he stole a deer from the king and ran away, never to be seen again (more on that in a later story). Together they had Henry Heaps and Thomas Heaps.

After William ran away, Mary married Joseph Spencer and he pretty much took in all the kids. So Henry and Thomas are brothers. Henry is my 3rd-great grandpa, Thomas is my 4th-great grandpa. And their step-brother is Joseph Spencer Jr, who is my 3rd-great grandpa. And they all come from Mary Cragg, who as mentioned, is my double 4th-great grandma and my 5th great-grandma. which means that the lines before Mary Crag (i.g. her parents/grandparents/etc) are duplicated three times in my ancestry.

Apparently all the boys got along, because Henry, Thomas, and Joseph Jr. all immigrated to Escalante, Utah together. There Henry had a son named Henry Jr. And Thomas had a daughter named Mary Elizabeth, who had a daughter named Eliza Alice. And Henry Jr. married Eliza Alice, his 1st cousin once removed.

And that's probably why I'm so weird right?

Robert Gardner and Margaret Calinder: Scots in the West

Visual Aid

With the annual Payson Scottish Festival this weekend, I only thought it appropriate to highlight the story of some of my Scottish ancestors. It is also the Haun's side turn for a story but..I have a ton of Scottish blood through my maternal family, but not a whole lot on my Haun side. So my choices were limited. But I did find Robert and Margaret, and I liked their story quite a bit. They are my 5th great-grandparents on my paternal grandfathers side. Here is their story:

Robert was born on March 12th, 1781 in Houston, Renfrew, Scotland. Margaret was born sometime in January of 1777 in Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland. Both pretty small towns at the time.

As far as childhoods go I can't really provide you with much information. I know they both came from pretty poor families. At some point Robert was apprenticed out to learn carpentry. Robert was especially tall for the area apparently, standing at 6'2". Margaret apparently liked tall boys because the two were wed on the 25th of May, 1800 in Lanark, Scotland. From there they moved to a small town called Kilsyth, on the outskirts of Glasgow.

Sterling Castle

In Kilsyth, Robert didn't stay with his apprenticeship. He owned a small farm, and rented a mill. He also worked running a tavern (The Black Bull Inn) and a grocery store. They lived a bit more prosperous than the majority of the people in the area for a time, but unfortunately for him, his tavern became a popular spot for Scottish agitators, people unsatisfied with the government. People who were often rounded up, beheaded, hanged, or shipped off to Botany Bay. While there is no proof that Robert himself was a Scottish rebel, he was accused, and was detained in Stirling Castle for 9 weeks before a judge came. 9 weeks of what we can assume was less than nice treatment with little food, overcrowding, and pee everywhere. The judge sentenced a lot of the men in Stirling Castle to banishment in Australia. However, lucky for us descendants, the man who accused Robert didn't show up to testify against him so Robert was released on lack of evidence.

The Gardner home in Kilsyth

The whole imprisonment thing really irked Robert, and he got fed up with the government. So he made the decision to come to America. In 1822 Robert, his eldest son, and his eldest daughter set sail for...Canada. A whole bunch of Scots were heading there so he must have figured he would too. He meant to save up money and send for Margaret and the rest of his kiddos as soon as he could, but he forgot his wife was a hardcore Scottish woman who didn't need no man to send her money. In 1823 she sold everything: The tavern, the store, the farm, the house, and every possession they could not carry in a few wooden chests. She and the remaining four children crossed the puddle aboard the Buckinghorn.

She did all this, by the way, without writing Robert. But Robert had heard a rumor that a whole bunch of ladies from Kilsyth were on this boat so he WALKED SEVENTY, yes 70, miles to the shore and lo and behold, met his wife.

Now, he told his wife the story of how the previous year he was offered land close to the shore but it was horribly rocky and useless, so he and the two eldest went off into the woods near Dalhousie and built a cabin. They had seeds for potatoes and stuff, but Robert remarked that in the winter "The Scotch whiskey was frozen solid. Either the weather was very cold or the whiskey was very weak."

Robert, Margaret, and their children worked very VERY hard for years. Clearing land by hand, with no oxen or mules. Neighbors had to be relied upon every time help was needed to raise a barn, house, or even a shed. Apparently it still sucked, because in 1835 they moved to Warwick, Ontario. A short jog away from the US border.

Twas here that Margaret heard the teachings of some LDS missionaries. She was determined to be baptized. However, it was the middle of winter and she was quite ill. But she, being the hardcore Scots woman she was, decided to do it anyway. She and her family went down to the lake and cut a hole in the ice. Margaret was baptized in front of a crowd of people. "The people had come to witness her death.  One man declared that if she did not die that night that he would become a Mormon."

Well she didn't die, and she even went on a stroll the next day to find the man and tell him he had to get baptized next. He didn't. What a weenie. I believe all, if not most of their children were baptized. Robert wasn't at that time. But, wanting to please his wife, took their entire family to Nauvoo in 1846, and on to Winter Quarters after that.

"24 Gardners left Canada.  They were assigned to the Edward Hunter company of 100 wagons.  During the journey to the west 3 of the family died, one baby was born.  On October 1, 1847, twenty two members of the Gardner family arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley."

Most of their children fanned out and lived around the Salt Lake Valley. Robert and Margaret settled next to their sons, Archibald and Robert Jr. in an area that is now Gardner Village, a little...park/shop area thing in Mill Creek. Archibald and Robert Jr. had a mill and got quite wealthy. Here Robert grew a garden he was insanely proud of, even cussing out a prominent church official when he came too close to his turnips.

"Robert had been a strong believer ever since he had first heard the Gospel preached in Canada, and he had paid his tithes and offerings for many years but had never joined the church. In 1851 he became very ill,· and thinking he was about to die, he had his folks place him on a stretcher and carry him to the stream.  There, John Borrowman, the man who had taken the Gospel message to them years before, baptized him. He recovered from his illness, was later ordained a High Priest, and received  his temple endowments. Robert was known as a scholarly man. He kept the business accounts for his son, Robert, Jr. until his death. On November 21, 1855 Robert Gardner died at Mill Creek at the age of 74."

Margaret died on April 28th, 1862. She and Robert are buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetary. Their grave is maintained by the Sons and Daughters of Utah Pioneers.

Edmund Hobart & Margaret Dewey: Pilgrims and Corn Trespassers

Today we have some ancestors on my paternal grandmothers side. My great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents. That's 12 great's for those who are keeping score, 14 generations total. This visual aid has Edmund down to me and included are the years the males were born. 

Now I can trace the Hobart line further back than Edmund, but there isn't a lot to tell other than birth and death dates. The reason I have substantially more information on Edmund is because he was a puritan pilgrim (a very well documented group) and because Edmund's son Peter was extremely well educated (Cambridge graduate in the 1600s level educated) for the time and he became a reverend and did a whole lot of writing and recording keeping and what not. 

I do know that the Hobart line was pretty wealthy. Depending on what source you look at Edmund is often referred to as Sir Edmund Hobart. Once of the verified documents pertaining to Edmund was the Last Will and Testament of Thomas Hubbarde, Edmund's father. In this document Thomas leaves his lands in Great Snoring to his first son Andrew, and his lands in Hingham to Edmund. So obviously wealthy enough to own land in two places. However, Edmund ended up leaving his land and the majority of his wealth behind for  his religion. And in case you did notice, Edmund was born as Edmund Hubbarde. Hubbarde was changed at some point to Hobart after Edmund migrated to the America's with the pilgrims apparently. 



Edmund Hobart was born on January 1st, 1571 in the parish of Great Snoring in Norfolk, England. Great Snoring is a small little village in East England, pretty close to the sea. In 2001 the population was 168. It used to be much bigger, in 1841 the population was 556. In fact the population only dropped to the 100s when World War One broke out and all the men left to fight, and then never came back (sad face) and the population hasn't gone back up since. It's pretty much the cutest little town I've ever seen. It looks like it came straight out of a BBC Midsommer Murder's set. I totally would live here. Here's a link for a little more information on Great Snoring.

Now there isn't like...any information on Edmund's childhood or early years. And nothing on Margaret other than she was born in 1574 in Norfolk. The only thing noted is in a copyhold claim filed by the Hobart family, Edmund is listed as having "received the family crest on the 19th of May, 1575 in Hingham, Norfolk."

We do know that Edmund married Margaret on the 7th of August, 1600. Together they had at least 8 known children, many stillborn are never recorded: Nazareth (1601-1658), Peter (1604-1678), Thomas (1606-1689, Joshua (1607-1682), Edmund Jr (1609-1686), Anthony (1609-1609, twin of Edmund Jr. Died at birth), Edward (Stillborn), and Rebecca (1611-1679). 

Edmund was a puritan separatist, and we can assume he faced the same persecution that other puritan separatists faced in England during that time. According to his son Peter: Edmund, seeking religious freedom emigrated to Charlestown, Boston with his son Thomas and several others (I'm assuming some of his younger kids). Edmund sailed in 1633 aboard the Elizabeth Bonaventure, the second ship to bear that name. Edmund was admitted to full communion in the "1st Church of Christ" in Boston in either August of 1633 or 1634 (water damage to record). If I lived in Boston I could visit the Massachusetts Historical Society and view the actual church records from 1631-1768 where Edmund's record can be found. Unfortunately, despite an hour long phone call and the nicest man from the society, the digital versions of these records, including paintings and some old sketches, could not be found.

Anyway, moving on. Margaret died just a few weeks after coming to America with her husband, not even long enough to join Edmund's church. Shortly after her death and after being admitted to his church, Edmund moved his family to the Bare Cove Common, north of Plymouth. Two years later, Edmund's son Peter sailed and landed in Hingham where he became the first minister/reverend of the town and it was renamed Hingham, after their hometown in England. But Peter's story is for later. Links: Hingham & Hingham. In 1634 Edmund married Sarah Ann Oakley, they are not known to have any kids together.

At some point between 1634-1636, Edmund was named the Constable of Hingham. He was part of some old committee that decided "only certain desirable persons should be allowed to "sit downe and dwell in the towne." So like...if you wanted to live in Hingham you needed to be approved and deemed desirable.

In 1638 Edmund was named Commissioner of Hingham. Which as I understand it is pretty much the same thing as a court judge. He was able to do marriages and whatnot. Also in 1638, like the most horrible thing happened. Edmund was fined 40s (Which I think means shillings) for "leaving a pit open in which a child was drowned." Always nice to know that criminal negligence is only worth 40 bucks.

Now I don't know what sort of horrible pilgrim criminal Edmund was but in 1639 he was sued by Thomas Hamond for "trespassing in his Indian corn since planting time till now to the value of 50s..." Whatever that means. Note that in 1639 Edmund was 67 years old. Who sues an old guy for walking around in some corn!? Also note that this corn was more valuable than that poor kid who drowned.

And on March 8th, 1645 or 46 (more damage to records) Edmund Hobart passed away. His death is noted by a single sentence in his son Peter's journal: "Father Hubbarde dyed."

Johan Jakob Hahn and the Origin of Hahn

As you may have noticed, I am a Haun. So I decided my very first mission on here would be to track my last name as far back as I could. Turns out that was a little harder than I expected. But with the help of both FamilySearch and Ancestry.com and a very helpful phone call to the genealogy center in Salt Lake City, I was able to go back a little further than I had on my own.

I wasn't able to get a whole lot of info but I did get some. The furthest validated record of our name of someone who was actually for sure related to us was with Johan Jakob Hahn in 1758 in Ropperhausen, Hessen-Nassau, Prussia. His name is listed in a microfilm registrar of German Births and Baptisms from 1558-1898. He is listed as having two children, George Hahn and Heinrich Hahn. I made a quick visual aid so you could see the "Line of Haun" all the way down to me with names and the years they were born.

Unfortunately that is pretty much the only source I was able to find on him. His spouse is even listed as unknown. But I didn't want to leave you hanging with a short post, so I decided this would be a great time to just research the origin of the name Hahn.

According to Ancestry.com Haun is: "German: from Middle High German hane ‘rooster’, hence a nickname for a conceited or sexually active man. In some instances it may have been a habitational name from a house bearing the sign of a rooster. One of the many Ashkenazic surnames based on vocabulary words denoting birds or animals."

Don't worry, I googled that crazy word. Turns out "Hahn" is very traditionally German Jewish. Ashkenazic Jewish to be precise. Which is a regional subgroup of Jews in the Germanic regions of Eastern Europe. Hahn is considered an animal Ashkenazic name. If you want an interesting read on Ashkenazic Names I suggest looking here.

The earliest instance of "Hahn" was clear back around 1230 with Eckhard Hahn or "Eggehardus Gallus" as his name was later made more Latin. The Hahns in that time were considered nobility! Eckhard was a councilor and knight to Duke Johann the 1st of Mecklenburg, and it seems as though his line continued to serve the "princes of Mecklenburg" for quite some time. Because he is basically the first Hahn, I hope to be able to establish a link between him and Johan, and take my line back further with more research! Hahn is documented in the "Deutsches Adels-Lexicon. im Vereine mit mehreren Historikern." which you can look at here. It roughly translates to "A Dictionary of German Nobility in Association with Several Historians." References to the Hahn family can be found starting on page 152 and then randomly throughout the rest of the book. You can learn more about Eckhard specifically by checking out here and here. I know they are Wikipedia articles, but they are well sourced. You also might need to translate them from German.

Around Eckhard's time is also when the "Hahn" Coat of Arms started showing up. There are, as with every coat of arms, several renditions. The most common one for the Hauns is the Red Rooster on a Silver Shield. That is the Coat of Arms that ties closest with my particular Haun Heritage. There is also a blue one that is essentially the same, but the shield is not tilted and it has more ties with English Hahns than our German ones.

The Coat has not changed much. It has the Rooster. Or "Shield of the Cock" as the history books like to call it. Two feathers on the rooster are supposed to be black but I couldn't find a picture I liked of those. But they represent the two values of the Hahn name: Vigilance and Militancy. Which I completely enjoyed learning as they are so spot on. The Hahn motto was added sometime later: Primus sum, qui Deum laudat. Which means "I am the first who praises God"

And that is pretty much what I found for the origin of the name. As I said, I hope to establish a direct link to Eckhard if I can with more research, for now I shall have to deal with the large blank space in between 1230 and 1758. I may not ever be exact, but Prussia and later Germany were some of the earliest censused areas so I am hopeful I will at least be able to establish more connections in the coming years.

Thanks for letting me prattle on!

My Story

Hi! I'm Elisabeth. I am the oldest of five children and the only girl. I adore Star Trek, Stargate, Pacific Rim, and reading. When Im not artist-ing I like to hike and am a hobbyist photographer. I also like to nap. A lot. I collect postcards and pins from all over the world. I also collect Junior Ranger badges from all the State Parks and National Parks I go to. I hope to become a real Park Ranger after I graduate at one of my favorite state parks or national parks in Utah.

When I first entered the Young Women's in my church, I was introduced to genealogy. You know, that thing that old ladies do. But I fell in love with it. There is nothing more amazing than being able to find stories and pictures of your own ancestors. I started indexing when I was 14 and I haven't stopped. When I was living in Cedar City, UT, I was even called to be the Ward Indexing Teacher! Throughout this whole process, as I delved deeper and deeper into my own past, I discovered the amazing stories of my ancestors. Stories that I think deserve to be shared. But first, let's start with my story:

I was born on April 30th, 1995 in American Fork, Utah, to Caleen and Dustun Haun. They named me Elisabeth Anne Haun. I was so small that even preemie baby clothes were still loose on me. I was born so early that my parents didn't even have baby stuff at our house, so I slept in my car seat next to my moms bed for a while!

Obviously I can't remember way back then, but I can gather that my early childhood was pretty great. Being a first baby, and an only girl, Im sure I was spoiled rotten. I can't tell you how many of my childhood pictures are of me in a huge poofy dress! Everything was fine until 1997 when my parents decided I needed a baby brother. And then in 1999 they decided I actually needed two MORE baby brothers. And then in 2001 they finally decided I needed a baby sister, except they messed up and I got ANOTHER baby brother!

Oh boy let me tell you how much fun four little brothers are. Bucket. Buckets of fun. Four brothers meant I always had friends though! Or did it mean I always had test subjects... We had a pretty great childhood together. Camping, family reunions, elementary school, the works. We even got all the way through it without breaking any bones. Quite the accomplishment considered we once threw our four year old brother out of a tree. 

When I was 8 I was baptized and became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The greatest blessing in my life! Since then my testimony has only gotten stronger. I would not have made it through the struggles of my life so far without the guiding hand of my Heavenly Father and the comfort of the gospel. If you are at all curious about what I believe, I encourage you to visit Mormon.org.

I attended American Heritage Academy for K-5th grade, American Leadership Academy for 6th, Mt. Nebo Jr High for 7-9th, and Salem Hills High School for 10-12th. In high school I was in my schools marching band and concert band as a percussionist. I was a member of the Salem Hills Envirothon team for 3 years, 2 of which I served as captain, including the year we won the state competition and went on to compete at the International Envirothon Competition in Pennsylvania. I served as president of the Salem Hills Bio Science club for two years. And in 2013 I graduated and moved on to adulthood. I briefly attended Southern Utah University for a semester in 2014 before moving back home. I look forward to continuing my education at Utah Valley University.

My life is just beginning, and I look forward to the many adventure I will have!