Family History Episode 5: Starring: The Infamous Martin Wardell

Martin Douglas Wardell was born on February 12, 1822 in Sunderland, Durham County, England to George Wardell and Ann Turnbull Wardell. Barbara Smith was born on May 26, 1831 in Perth and Kinross Scotland to Thomas Smith and Isabella Ord Smith. Martin and Barbara were married on September 14, 1845 in Chapel of Hetton Le Hole, Durham County, England.
The two converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints while in England and in 1851 migrated to America. They landed in Florida and spent two years there building wagons and tents for other Mormon immigrants that were traveling to Utah. Eventually the Wardells made the trek to Utah themselves and arrived in Salt Lake City in November of 1860. They settled in the East Mill Creek area and had 7 children including our 3rd Great Grandmother Annie Wardell Herbert. After a few years Martin decided that he would like to take a second wife. Barbara did not approve of this and so the two were divorced. Martin married Mary Ann Askew. He moved to Salt Lake abandoning Barbara and their seven children and was even quoted as saying they can "Paddle their own canoe". Mary Ann already had one son and later her and Martin had another son together. A few years after the birth of their son Mary Ann passed away. Martin then married a Swiss Woman named Zenger. Martin would often visit his daughter Isabelle Wardell Wright in Mill Creek and most of the information we have about him was stories he told to her and that she recorded in February of 1881 including the interesting fact that he was a great carpenter and that he built the first ship ever in Utah which he named the Mayflower. He supposedly ran this ship on the Great Salt Lake. Martin passed away on July 28th, 1893.

I read that history and I thought it interesting. Martin building the first ship in the state of Utah which he operated on the Great Salt Lake is a cool bit of family and Utah history, and so I researched it. Following my research I have discovered that Martin Wardell is more like the man that abandoned his wife and 7 children leaving them to "Paddle their own canoe", and appears to be a bit of a story teller. Surely there would be some documentation about the first ship built in Utah and its builder, so I did some searching. I discovered that there were several ships built in Utah that sailed the Great Salt Lake long before Martin Wardell even arrived in the state. I sent an email to the Great Salt Lake Yacht club who appear to have done the most extensive research and gained a lot of information about the early boats made and used in Utah and on the Great Salt Lake. I received an email back from their historian saying that they have never heard of Martin Wardell nor have they ever found any information of a vessel named the Mayflower that sailed the Great Salt Lake, and they assured me that they have done extensive research into the matter. 

But things get much more interesting concerning our 4th great Grandfather Martin Wardell. It seems in the late 1880's and early 1890's as Utah was trying to become a state, that there were many people throughout the country that did not wish for the Mormons to have any sort of political involvement or even be considered citizens of the United States. Polygamy being one of the chief reasons against Utah becoming a state and the Mormons. However there were other issues caused by incidents like the Mountain Meadows Massacre and so forth that had non-Mormons concerned that the Mormons were an anti government group. From my studies it appears that those fighting against Mormons and Utah statehood were convinced that Mormons were taking oaths in their Temples and Endowment Houses to avenge the blood of the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum and to fight against the government. Thus enter Grandpa Wardell. Around 1888 or so Martin Wardell had fully apostatized from the church. He came out publicly with a story that supposedly occurred when he and his family were crossing the plains and making the journey to Utah.The wagon train leader was one W.H. Dames who was somewhat famous for playing a role in the Mountain Meadows Massacre, although he was not there for the massacre itself. There was another man named William Green that joined their party. Mr. Green was traveling to Utah to meet his wife, but he had publicly cut ties with the church. According to Martin, W.H. Dames commanded several men to take Mr. Green from his wagon one night and slit his throat for being an apostate. 

This story became national news at the time as Utah was fighting for statehood and Mormons were fighting for citizenship and other rights. There was a big trial between the government and the Mormon Church because of this. I read several newspaper articles from the Deseret Evening News, Salt Lake Herald and the Salt Lake Tribune. I have posted links to three of the articles, but there are many many more if you want to search them yourselves. The Deseret Evening News was obviously on the side of the church, and the Salt Lake Tribune was against the Mormon church. It was interesting to read these back and forth articles and often they went over what was said in the trial itself. There were several people in the same wagon train that said the story was false and that it never happened. This included several of Martin's own children including testimony from his daughter Isabelle Wright who recorded the earlier documentation and was often visited by her father. She is quoted as saying "I am a daughter of Martin Wardell. I came to Utah 28 years ago in Captain W.H. Dames Company. I was about 12 years old at that time, but remember the circumstances of crossing the plains. Never knew of a man named Green being killed or a man by any other name. I heard father mention the circumstances two years ago at first. I can account for fathers story only in the fact that he lets his imagination play. He is cosiderable a visionary man, and always has been. He has acted very strangely at times. I am not very fond of father." 
I found it interesting that she basically says her father has always been a story teller and that essentially he lets his imagination fly wild. Eventually Mr. William Green came forward and said that he was in that wagon company, but that he clearly was not dead, so it could not be a true story. After that story proved to be false those against the church tried to focus on the Mormons taking oaths against the government and not so much if Mr. Green was killed or not as he obviously was not. It seems that at this point Martin Wardell lost any good relationships he had with his children. We can also assume that he did not build the first boat in the state of Utah and that the Mayflower most likely did not exist at all, but was a made up story by a good story teller with an active imagination. 

At any rate, he may not be my favorite ancestor and turns out he does not give me anything to brag about, but it is some interesting stuff anyway.

Here is a link to an article from 1889 in the Salt Lake Tribune in favor of Martin Wardell's story and against Mormon Citizenship.

https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=12412453&facet_paper=%22Deseret+Evening+News%22+OR+%22Salt+Lake+Tribune%22&q=%28Martin+AND+Wardell%29

Here is an article from the Deseret Evening News that goes over the story and Mr. William Greens testimony that he is still alive.

https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=1535277&facet_paper=%22Deseret+Evening+News%22+OR+%22Salt+Lake+Tribune%22&q=%28Martin+AND+Wardell%29

Here is an article from the Salt Lake Herald that goes over testimony from the trial including that of several of Martin Wardell's children and several others.

https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=10806261&page=2&facet_paper=%22Deseret+Evening+News%22+OR+%22Salt+Lake+Herald%22+OR+%22Salt+Lake+Tribune%22&q=%28Martin+AND+Wardell%29

The Martin Wardell Line

                                       Martin Douglas Wardell

Family History Episode 4: Starring Chief Powhatan and Pocohantas

In today's episode I am going to tell you about our 13th Great Grandfather Chief Powhatan, otherwise known as the chief of chiefs. His actual name is Wahunsenacawh and the name Powhatan was more of a title for the leader of the tribes he was over. Before the arrival of English Colonists to the Americas in 1607 there is little known about Chief Powhatan. It is known that When he inherited the title from his father he had control over 6 different tribes. Throughout the years and using force, diplomacy, and marriage pacts he eventually gained control of about 30 different tribes. Each tribe had their own chief that reported to Powhatan and thus he was Chief of Chiefs or King of Chiefs. The collective title for all these tribes was also Powhatan. The area he ruled over was over 10,000 square miles and he had anywhere from 13,000 to 35,000 subjects. 

When the English settlers arrived and settled Jamestown, Powhatan at times ordered attacks against the white men and at other times negotiated trades with them. It seems at times he viewed them as allies, but also was somewhat wary of them as enemies. John Smith represented the English during these times, and He and Powhatan seemed to play a little bit of a cat and mouse game to gauge each other's skills and capabilities. It was during this time that John Smith reported that he was almost executed by Chief Powhatan when the chief's daughter and our 13th great Aunt, Pocohantas rescued John Smith and caused the chief to spare his life. 

Around the year 1609 John Smith left the settlement and returned to England. During this time Chief Powhatan grew scared of the English. He invited many of the settlers to come do some trading, but as they arrived he ordered his men to attack them and they killed most of the white settlers that had come to trade. He then ordered his men to attack any of the settlers that left their fort in Jamestown to also be attacked. The settlers did not have much food and really struggled through this period with nearly 80% of them dying. Jamestown would have been completely lost if not for a ship with food and reinforcements that arrived in 1610. At this time the settlers gained more strength and more numbers and began their own attacks on the natives. In 1613 Chief Powhatans daughter Aunt Pocohantas was taken captive by the English. In effort to get her back Chief Powhatan released some English prisoners, but he could not meet all of the demands of the settlers and so Pocohantas remained in captivity. She eventually converted to Christianity and drew the romantic interest of her English teacher, and colonist John Rolfe. Powhatan consented to let his daughter marry John Rolfe which resulted in a peaceful period again between the Powhatan people and the English settlers. The peace between the two peoples lasted the rest of Chief Powhatan's life.

Shortly after Chief Powhatan died in the Spring of 1618 his younger brother, Opitchapam took control of the tribes. However, most of the tribes and decided instead to follow the youngest brother, Opechancanough, was more intent on going to war and attacking the English. This eventually led to the Powhatan's demise and the continual growth of the English. Chief Opechancanough was our 12th great grandfather and had married Chief Powhatan's daughter, and Pocohantas's sister. Her name was Paupauwiske Morning Scent Flower Mangopeesomom. Their daughter married Major Joseph Raleigh Croshaw, and their daughter married Colonel John West who was the son of the third governor of Virginia also named John West. These men were also our grandparents and come from royal lines in England that travel back to Knights, Barons, Ladies, and Dukes. Including Elizabeth Somerset who was one of Anne Boleyns's ladies in waiting and testified against her to get her locked in the Tower of London. Anyway some interesting history for y'all. The land that the West's owned in Virginia is now the city of West Point, Virginia which holds a crab festival in the first weekend of October that I believe we should all attend because crab is delicious. 

John Smith said of Chief Powhatan "...their Emperor proudly [lay] upon a bedstead a foot high upon ten or twelve mats, richly hung with many chains of great pearls about his neck, and covered with a great covering of Rahaughcums [raccoon skins]. At his head sat a woman, at his feet another, on each side, sitting upon a mat upon the ground, were ranged his chief men on each side [of] the fire, ten in a rank, and behind them as many young women, each a great chain of white beads over their shoulders, their heads painted in red, and [he] with such a grave a majestical countenance as drove me into admiration to see such state in a naked savage." and described him as such "tall, well-proportioned man with a sower looke, his head somewhat gray, his beard so thinne that it seemeth none at all, his age neare sixtie, of a very able and hardy body, to endure any labor."

                                    A picture of Chief Powhatan From John Smith's Writings

                                                              The Real Pocohantas

                                                           The Fake Pocohantas

                                  Pocohantas after her conversion and marriage to John Rolfe.
                                                Now she was known as Rebecca Rolfe