Family History Episode 6: Starring Graham Coltrin with a Special Guest Appearance by Ether Coltrin

Here is a fun and interesting bit of family history I recently read about. I found this story on FamilySearch.org, and thought it was pretty awesome. It is a story about our 5th great grandfather, Graham Coltrin. To put it into perspective for you, he was Grandma Vinnie's great grandfather.

Graham was born December 11, 1796 in Coltrain, Massachussets, to John and Sarah Coltrin. The Coltrin's joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in its early existence. It appears that most or all of the family joined including John and Sarah. Their children were adults by this point, but they also joined the church. Graham and his wife Anna joined in January of 1831, less than a year after the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was established.

Graham faced many of the struggles that the early saints were challenged with, including mobs burning down his house, the death of two of his five children, and then around 1835 the death of his wife in Kirtland, Ohio.

Graham also had the privilege of being part of this "Great and Marvelous Work". He was called to serve a mission to Virginia. He worked on both the Kirtland and Nauvoo temples. He was good friends with the Prophet Joseph Smith. He was a pioneer that crossed the plains with his family. His brother, Zebedee, was a member of the first pioneer group that reached the Salt Lake Valley with Brigham Young. Zebedee is also mentioned in Doctrine and Covenants 52:29.

Sometime after the death of Anna, Graham got remarried to Harriet Heckman. They moved to Nauvoo, Illinois and had Five children of their own. Again hardships followed and three of those children died. One in or around Nauvoo, and two after they had settled in Utah.

The cool story I wanted to share takes place in Council Bluffs, Missouri near the Missouri river. At this time many of the saints and settlers of that area were very sick and bed-ridden. The Prophet Joseph asked Graham to help him give blessings. They spent the day traveling from house to house and giving blessings to all those that needed it. At the end of the day Graham asked Joseph if he would cross the river and help give blessings to the sick members of Graham's family. Joseph told him that he did not have the strength to cross. He was too exhausted and needed to get to his own home and get some rest. Then the prophet pulled his handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Graham. He told Graham "I give you this with my blessing. Take it and rub it over their foreheads and they will be healed. Keep this handkerchief and it will be a bond between you and I in case of sickness in your family. You will always receive a blessing if you ask for it using this handkerchief." Graham took the handkerchief, did as the prophet had instructed him, and they were all healed. 

I thought this was an interesting way to show an exercise of faith, and it got me curious if there were other situations or times where something similar had happened. I found two other stories of the prophet giving away his handkerchiefs to heal people. One where a lady asked him to come bless her twin sons. Joseph was too busy at the time, but said he would send somebody. He gave a handkerchief to Wilford Woodruff and told him something very similar to what he told Graham Coltrin, including that the handkerchief will be a bond between you and I. Wilford did as he was told and the boys were healed. 

The other story was about Newel and Lydia Knight. Lydia was very sick and asked Newel to see if the Prophet could give her a blessing or at least give them one of his handkerchiefs to rub on her head so that she might be healed. Newel was too afraid to ask the prophet for this thinking he was too busy. So he returned with his own handkerchief and let his wife believe it was from the prophet. Nothing happened and she continued to get more sick. After several days, Newel confessed to his wife and went to the prophet. Joseph did give him a handkerchief, which Newel laid on his wife's head and then Newel gave her a blessing. She was immediately healed. 

I thought these were very cool and interesting stories, and I thought that it was neat that our Grandfather was able to have one of these experiences. Graham kept the handkerchief his entire life and when he died, his family cut the handkerchief up and gave a piece to each of his children. 

While in Bountiful, Utah, Grahams wife, Harriet gave birth to twins Julie and Julius. Harriet died a couple weeks after that. A couple weeks later the twins died, and a couple weeks after that Graham passed away. They still had two young children living at home. Their youngest daughter went to live with Graham's older Daughters, Lavinna (Who grandma Vinnie was named after) and Sarah (our 4th Great Grandmother; Grandma Vinnie was probably named after her as well. Grandma's full name is Sarah Livinna Baker). Their youngest son, Ether, went to live with Graham's brother Herman. 

Ether has a pretty cool story himself that I would also like to share. When he was 18 or 19 Ether became a rider for the pony express. On one particular trip he realized he was being followed by some Indians. That night when he set up camp he realized that there were a lot more than he had first thought and they had surrounded his camp. He tied up his horse, started a fire, and made his bed, believing that would be the night that he would die. He laid down in his bed and stayed awake until the fire burned out. When it got dark he quickly jumped out of bed and wrapped his blanket around a log, so it would look like he was still there. He then grabbed the mail and made his escape by foot. He ran all night long and in the morning he was able to find some other riders that gave him a ride to the next post. 

There you have it, some more fun and great stories from our family history. Stay safe and love y'all. 

Graham Coltrin

Handkerchief Given to Graham Coltrin by the Prophet Joseph Smith

Relation to Graham Coltin

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

Family History Episode 3: A Love Story... Starring George Jacob Slaugh, Mary Magdeline Ivory, and Robert Croft

I can't decide if this is a sad story or a fantastic love story or what, but I will lay out the details and let you decide for yourself.

On March 21st 1828 in Philadelphia Pennsylvania the Doctor was called to the house of John Jacob Slaugh and his wife Magaret Hammond Slaugh. To them that night was born a son who they named George Jacob Slaugh. The story goes that immediately after George Jacob was born the doctor was called to the house next door to the home of Jesse Ivory and his wife Rachel Smith Ivory. On that same night was born Mary Magdeline Ivory.

Mary and George were not only next door neighbors, but became great friends in childhood. These two born within crying distance of each other on the same day would later marry each other.

George worked as an engineer on the railroad and helped support his family living in Philadelphia. While working for the railroad George had some issues with his hand, something that Doctor's called "White Swelling", and that they pronounced incurable. Mary told George to visit the Mormon's and that they could heal his arm. He met with some of the Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who gave him a blessing. His arm was healed. This event led George and Mary to be baptized and join the LDS church. George and Mary had 5 children. two of them, Isaac and Sara, caught Typhoid fever and were pronounced dead by local Doctors. Again the couple called upon the assistance of the Elders of the church. Blessings were administered to the two children and both were miraculously brought back from the dead and regained their health.

In Philadelphia they had a good and comfortable life. Mary's family was wealthy and they had all they could ever want. But George felt the need to gather with the saints in Utah. He left to Utah to help settle things and prepare for his wife and children to join him. While there he became a teamster and crossed the plains three times to help immigrants make their way to Utah. He started to miss his wife and asked her to bring the kids and join him in Utah. She decided that things were nice in Pennsylvania and she did not want to leave her family. After a few years she decided they were better off separating.

Mary got remarried to Robert Croft. They had a son and named him Benjamin Croft. George also got remarried to Martha Nerdin. They also got pregnant, but during child birth Martha and the baby both died. George again contacted Mary and let her know his love for her and his desire for her and the children to join him in Utah. This time Mary was persuaded and decided that George had sacrificed so much to be with the saints in Utah that it was time for her to sacrifice also. She left without the consent of her husband Robert and took her six children to Utah. The trip was long and grueling. Benjamin was just a baby and Mary walked and carried him nearly every step of the way. At last her and George were reunited. They live in a small house with Georges brother and his family. The roof was dirt, and it was a hard pioneering life. Mary never did become comfortable with this life style and often longed to return to her family and their wealth in Pennsylvania. He mother would often send expensive luxuries to them, but Mary had to get rid of them because they reminded too much of where she longed to be. She even left one day with the intent of returning to Pennsylvania, but George caught up to her and begged her to stay. Eventually it all became to much for her and the rigors of pioneer life caused her to have a stroke at the age of 59 and she passed away.

One more cool story from George Jacobs life. He was at one point a body guard for Brigham Young and when Johnston's army came into Salt Lake he was put in charge of training a bunch of young boys and preparing them to fight against the army. W. W. Phelps asked him "George, are you scared?" George replied that he was to which W. W. Phelps responded "Never fear Brother Slaugh, there will not a gun be fired. I've seen too many armed hosts in the Heavens on our side."

This story reminds me of something that you might read in a Nicholas Sparks novel. A husband and wife born on the same day at the same time in the same place. They grow up together get married, have their struggles and separate momentarily. They get back together and the wife especially gives up everything just to be with the man she loves. This is Nicholas Sparks stuff for sure.

You might be thinking that George Jacob Slaugh is our so many greats grandfather. He's not! Robert Croft, Mary's second husband, is our third great grandfather. Their only child Benjamin, whom Mary carried across the plains to Utah, is the father of Great Grandfather Hyrum Slaugh. Benjamin was adopted by George and thus we receive the name Slaugh in our family history, but technically we are related to the Croft's and not the Slaughs. Not much is known about Robert Croft and his family.

Anyway interesting story. I like to think of it as a great love story, but I wish I could know more about poor Robert Croft who lost in this battle of love for the great Mary Ivory.

Mary Magdeline Slaugh

Family History Episode 2: Pioneer Day: Starring: John Taylor, Joseph Davis Mathews, Anna Eliza Telford Baker

Here is some more great history for y'all. I figured with it being pioneer day on the 24th I would share some stories about some of our pioneer ancestors. We have a thick history of pioneer ancestors that crossed the plains in wagons or pushing handcarts, but we don't necessarily have a lot of stories from all of them. We all know about John Cameron and the amazing stories of his daughter Catherine Cameron, so I figured I would share some stories maybe we don't all know. Then again maybe you all do know them and I am the only one who didn't know.

Let me start with our 4th great grandfather John Taylor. No it is not the third prophet of the church John Taylor, but he was good friends with Joseph and Hyrum Smith. In fact he was one of Joseph Smith's body guards and a member Zion's Camp. It was during Zion's Camp's gathering at the Burkett farm to battle against the Missouri Militia before a large storm and Cholera stopped the battle before it could happen, that he met his wife. He would go on to marry Eleanor Burkett and they had 12 children. It is these Taylor's that Taylor Mountain here in Vernal is named after. Here is one of my favorite stories about John Taylor. Because of his close friendship with Joseph Smith, John was often arrested on false charges. One particular time he was imprisoned for 6 months. While he was in jail his wife Eleanor ran into Joseph Smith on the streets and asked him when her husband would be released from jail. Joseph replied "Your husband can walk out of that jail as easy as I can turn my hand." Around that same time at the prison John was inspired as to how to escape. The guard had left for the day and left his wife to watch over John at the prison. She was busy doing chores when the door of the cell opened by itself. John slipped his shoes off and walked out unseen and unheard. He even walked past the guard dog that was sleeping on the floor. Once he got outside he began to run barefoot through the snow until he reached the Mississippi River. The river was frozen over which allowed him to cross safely. Once he reached the other side the ice immediately broke away so that the guards and mobs could not follow him. His feet were frozen, bloody and swollen, but he had escaped and returned safely to his family.

The next Pioneer ancestor that I would like to talk about is Joseph Davis Mathews. Another one of our 4th great grandfathers. Joseph was born in Wales and later married his wife Ann Roberts in Wales. It was here that they converted to the church. Like many converts at the time they came to America and made the long trek across the plains. We don't have a lot of information about their journey to Utah, but we do know that Joseph was one of the hunters for his company. He talks about waking up one morning and seeing a giant herd of Buffalo. He says their wagon train traveled all day and never saw the end of the herd. It was after he arrived in Salt Lake that the story I want to share happened. He was a laborer and was put to work on building the Temple and Tabernacle. At one point during construction there was a load of rock being lifted by a block and tackle and was going over his head. At this point the rope broke and the entire load fell right on top of Joseph. Those that were there were sure that such a crushing blow would have killed him. They hurried and dug him out and found that he was still alive, but was obviously in pretty bad shape. They took him home and two of the Apostles came and gave him a priesthood blessing. He was healed almost immediately and the next day he was back to work on the Temple. He also helped on the construction of the St. George Temple. 

Finally here is a story about our 3rd great grandmother Anna Eliza Telford Baker. Many of you might remember her daughter Sarah Lavinna Baker, or as only Carl and I got to call her Grandma Vinnie. It was Anna's husband Alonzo Baker that was the pioneer and traveled the plains to get to Utah. Anna was born in Utah, but lived a long pioneering life anyway. They had 12 children. In 1888 with their 7 oldest children, the family moved to Star Valley, Wyoming. The oldest child was 11 years old and the youngest just a baby. Grandma Vinnie was 5 at the time. For the first winter they lived in an overturned wagon and a tent. The next spring her husband Alonzo and their oldest son (10 years old) got jobs working on the railroad. This took them away from the family for most of the year. Anna refused to live in those conditions again for another winter. She had learned some carpentry skills from her father and so she went to work. Her and her oldest daughter Harriet retrieved all the shell stone for the foundation of the cabin. They then cut down all the logs for the cabin and she even dove tailed the ends to make better connections. A sophisticated and laboring part of carpentry that wasn't always used in cabin making at the time because although it is better quality it was not as quick. Her and the children built the two room cabin. She put a lot of quality work into the cabin and it was the first cabin in Star valley to have shingles. Because of the excellent workmanship of the cabin it is still standing today and it is the oldest cabin in Star Valley, Wyoming. The Baker Cabin is now a tourist stop just off the highway in Etna, Wyoming. 

I'm thinking we ought to do a road trip to see the cabin. Who's in?

The Alonzo and Anna Baker Family: Grandma Vinnie is on the far left of the picture.

The Baker Cabin in Etna, Wyoming

Family History: Episode 1: William Brewster

Hey Family, I have been studying a bit about our family history and some of the cool characters that came before us to help make us as awesome as we are. I'm a little bit different about family history. I want to know the stories behind the name. I know for religious purposes it is important to find the names and get temple work done, but I really enjoy the stories. So I thought maybe it would be a good idea to restart this blog and we could do some family history stories that then could be saved or archived or printed off etc. Stories about mom, dad, grandparents would be cool just so that they are recorded. I have recently studied some of our further back relatives and thought that with us recently having celebrated Independence day, that I would share about one of our own founding father ancestors. William Brewster was a passenger on the Mayflower and the religious leader for the puritans in the New World.

William Brewster was born in 1568 in Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, England. While studying at Cambridge he became a religious reformist and entered the service of William Davison, who was held responsible for the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots. Davison was arrested, so William Brewster moved to Holland because the Dutch were more sympathetic to the reformists. He became one of the religious leaders of the separatists in Leiden, Holland. While there he teamed up with one Thomas Brewer to print, publish, and sale religious books in England. For this Thomas Brewer was arrested and William Brewster went into hiding for 2 years. During that time the puritans had secured enough money to procure the Mayflower. The puritans wanted William Brewster to be their religious leader on the journey and in the New World. William and his wife Mary and their two youngest sons Love Brewster and Wrestling Brewster were all on the Mayflower. They also were given charge over two other children that belonged to one Thomas More.

William Brewster lived to be 76 and was well loved by the pilgrims. He was their religious leader for nearly 24 years in the New World. He was granted some land in the Boston Harbor and four of the Islands are named after him. Clearly his efforts and desires for religious freedom helped establish this great country and it is pretty awesome to be a descendant of such a influential person.

You can read more about him and his life at these websites.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Brewster_(Mayflower_passenger)
http://mayflowerhistory.com/brewster-william/

Here is an excerpt from Jennie and Jessie's relative and political leader of the Pilgrims William Bradford.

Here is our line of ancestry to William Brewster

Scariest thing to happen to us in 2013

I posted this on facebook but some of you might not have seen it. Actually, anyone on here probably did see it on Facebook.

 

Scariest thing to happen to my family in 2013!

Thursday January 3rd. We started the day in Dutch John, UT, drove to Vernal, Provo, and Salt Lake City and flew to Nashville via Denver. We left Nashville about midnight. About 1 am Friday morning (late Thursday night) I was driving us to my Mom's in KY. As we approached the exit off I-24 to US 41A I was using the cruise control and doing about 75 mph..., I tapped the brakes and nothing happened. I knew I was going to fast but I didn't want to miss our exit so I exited and tried them again and nothing happened. I got confused and the following thoughts went through my head.
1. I am tired and confused so the brake must be on the right and the gas on the left. (OK, now you see how asleep/zoned out I was.) I tried the gas. That did not slow us down.
2. The brake and the gas do the same thing.
3. Use the cruise control to slow us down.   I tried that but we were going downhill so nothing happened and when I released it, it caught again and felt like we were speeding up.
4. I am going to kill my family at the end of the exit. Several different ways popped into my head in that split second. The exit was a long slight bend to the right followed by a bend to the left and then straight. As I negotiated the first bend using all of the road, Sheila said "slow down", I said "I can't", Sheila "Are the brakes gone?" me "I don't know!". That was all within a few seconds. As we start the left bend, I remember we are driving a standard and grab the shifter and rip it out of 5th gear and put it into 3rd (using my right foot to depress the clutch) which slows us down a bunch. At that point, I realize that the brake pedal is between the clutch and the gas pedals and I finally use the brake. Yes, I had been pressing the clutch all of the time. We stopped in the area between the merge right lane and the stop before turning left lane. I was shaken up but we were alive. In the whole thing I only moved my left foot at the very end. It was the most scared I have been in a long time.
The rest of the trip was uneventful.

 

Additional stuff not on Facebook.  I never felt like I was nodding off so I never realized how "out of it" I was. I am a big believer in "do not fall asleep behing the wheel".  I would normally just stop and let Sheila drive. That is another scary part of this. It snuck up on me completely. Since I have been driving for about 37 years, you would think that I knew what an emergency brake was. I never thought about the emergency brake a single time. I hope you do if you are ever in this situation. Lastly, I was really, really scared during the event and immediately after. I am just now beginning to feel good about the fact I did get the car stopped and we are alright. I hope this is the worst scare for the whole family for many years to come. Love and Kisses. See you in May.

What up Ninjas? Well thank you once again for another awesome and fun Morton Family Christmas. It was a blast despite Angel and Johnita's attempts to ruin it. Just kidding. Angel we are all extremely excited about little Molly Ann. Congratulations, that is awesome. Johnita, we are sorry about your appendix and are very glad that you still have an appendix present in your body because that means the baby is doing good. Good Luck with things. I do appreciate the good times we have together as a family even if I am a little bit of a trouble maker at these things. I also am glad that Charlie and Sheila are such big gaming nerds, because I love playing games. I know a complain a little if the game lasts all night, and when Sheila does not explain all the rules so that she has and advantage, but I truly do like playing these games. So we pretty much have the awesomest family this side of the Mason Dixon. I would also like to congratulate Ross, not just on winning the family over-unders, but by absolutely demolishing everybody else. With that said here is a new list of questions for 2013. I am going to keep going with the baby questions because now everybody but Dad, Ross, and Ruby are in the baby game.
1. There were three new babies born to the Morton family in 2012. Including Johnitas will there be over or under 2.5 born in 2013?
2. Besides Johnita and Colin who will be the next couple to have a baby?
3. What will be the total combined length of all babies born into the family in 2013?
4. Who will have a better Grade Point Average, the Students taught by Sheila, Johnita, and Angel, Or all the grandkids that attend school?
5. In 2012 several families traveled great distances for vacations, Tennessee, Oregon etc. Will there be over or under 5.5 Families that travel out of the state they are living in for vacation? Dad and Ruby count as seperate families.
6. Our family is notorious for running late to importan events. In fact several of the baptisms and baby blessings were cut close by several siblings. With 1 upcoming baptism, Abby, in 2013 will there be over or under 3.5 of the siblings that miss the opening prayer?
7. How many new vehicles will be purchased in 2013?
Here are some which will happen first questions. I will give you two options, and you choose who you think will be first to accomplish their feat.
8. Will Sheila win a board game at a convention? Or Will Sean win a city league Soft ball Game?
9. Will Ross start and finish a book? Or Will Ruby Start and Finish a play?
10. Will Carl and Jennie have a Baby? Or Will Angel and Waynes Baby learn to walk?
11. Will Johnita and Colin have their Baby? Or Will Clint pass his Infrastructure Inspector Test?
12. The past few years during the family Christmas party it seems that somebody spends some time in the hospital. Jessie with her leg infection, Lexi getting Nurse Maids Elbow, Johnita with her absessed tooth and her appendix, Angel with her party crashing Baby? Will there be somebody that spends time in the hospital for the 2013 Christmas party and Why? Creativity receives extra points.

Hello from Colombia

Well I am on my last week here in Colombia and can't wait to get home. The work has been fun, but the hours are a killer. I have been getting up at 1:30 ever morning to launch the aircraft and then fall back asleep around 6:30. I get back up around 10:00 o'clock to go meet the plane for refuel and then 2 hours latter I go meet the plane for recovery. I then spend the next few hours fixing any problems that raised during the flight. I then come and FaceTime with Ang and the kids till around 10:30 or 11. Then off to bed for a couple of hours to do it again. We only have one down day a week when the plane is not flying. I have been restricted to the base, so I haven't gotten to see much of colombia. Tomorrow we are going to the other side of the base where they have monkeys and crocodiles living on base. I have seen a lot of iguanas on base. There is a big 6 ft long one that is often in the trees by our building. There are also a lot of trianchilias running around outside our rooms.

On my way home we are stopping in Panama and they will be taking groups of people to see the canal. That will be something new and exciting. Well I love you all and look forward to being home.

Oregon vacation

Our little family is tearing it up on the Oregon Coast. We have rented a house on the beach with my in-laws. We literally walk out the back door and down to the beach. The kids love it. In fact Lexi was having a blast running towards the ocean and then letting the tide come up around her feet. During one particular wave she got a little to far out and the wave knocked her to the ground. Hilarious. I recorded it on my iPod, and I'll try to post it on here. Another time Jessie was running towards the waves and then running from them as the tide would come in. As she was running she lost her flip flop and it got washed away to sea. She came back to the house with her poor lonely thong. A little while later I went to the beach with Lexi and the flip flop had washed up on shore, so we were able to rescue the size eight run away. It has been a blast.


P.S. thanks to everyone for her prayers, love, and concern over Jessie's miscarriage. It has been a hard year for her and really appreciate you all.

Father's Day/Anniversary

FAMILY VISIT
We had a great visit 2 weeks ago from John, Ruby, Angel, Miles, Johnita, Colin, Jenny, Maddy, Abby (6 nights), Carl (4 nights), and Colin's sister Becca and her husband Max (2 nights). So we can sleep 12 plus the three of us in this house. Most of us went to Ober Gatlinburg, biked the Virginia Creeper, and hiked to Clingman's Dome in the Smokey Mnts. It was great to have our family here in Tennessee for a few days. It went much to fast. Lincoln is glad that everyone that could, came to see him. It was wonderful visit.

FATHER'S DAY
Because I worked Saturday night, I slept in until about 2 pm on Sunday. Not a bad way to spend part of the day. I was kinda tired. Sheila cooked a great dinner for us. She made a fabulous meatloaf with a bunch of stuff in it, grilled asparagus, and a wonderful homemade cheesecake with a sweet cream cheese topping and fresh raspberry puree. I gained 2 pounds for sure.Happy belated Father's Day to all the dad's out there.

ANNIVERSARY June 18
Yes, it has been a year already. Let's see, in the last year and a few weeks, I left my 17 year job and home in WV, moved into our house in Greeneville, flew to Utah and got married to my sweetie, visited Peru, had a beautiful baby boy, and a bunch of other stuff. I am extremely happy things worked out the way they did. Sheila, Lincoln, and I went back to Gatlinburg to the Melting Pot for out anniversary dinner. It is a fondue restaurant. We had a 4 course meal. The first course was a cheddar cheese/bacon pot with apples, bread, and veggies to dip. Sheila said it was her favorite. The second course was a salad course. We had a California salad with a raspberry vinegrette. It was very good. The third course was the main course. We had a Coq au vin (Chicken broth and wine) pot to cook the meat in. Our meal was 4 portions of sirloin, pork, chicken, shrimp, lobster tail, and a little wrapped thing that had seafood in it. In addition we had mushroom caps, potatoes, and vegetables. There were 6 sauces for the cooked food as well. It was very good. I liked all of it. The last course was a chocolate/peanut butter/raspberry pot with marshmellows, brownies, cheesecake, pound cake, bananas, and strawberrys. Good stuff!
You spend more time cooking your food than eating but I was full when we left. It was expensive but we had a great time.
It was a year worth celebrating!

We're having a baby!

So, it looks like Monday is the day!

For those of you who don't know, we found out about a month ago that Lincoln has only two vessels in his umbilical cord.  Normally, babies have three--two that deliver nutrients and oxygen and one that carries away waste. Well, Lincoln has only one of each. There are several possible reasons for this. In about 25% of cases of a two-vessel cord, it means that the baby has some kind of chromosomal abnormality like Downs Syndrome or Edwards Syndrome (Trisomy 18).  Getting this news was, once again, fairly devastating as we've already had several indicators of chromosomal abnormalities. So we went into the University of Tennessee for yet another scan, but once again, baby looks healthy and normal, all except for his umbilical cord. So we then had to consider other culprits--his abnormal cord, coupled with my low HcG levels early on could mean placental development problems. Except that on all of the scans, my placenta looks healthy and Lincoln is right on track in growth and development. So really, the doctors don't know what happened. It could just be a fluke. However, as Lincoln gets bigger, the risk that he will not be able to get enough of what he needs from his two-vessel cord increases, as does the possibility, if it is a placental problem, that we could have placenta complications. So we've been going in twice a week for non-stress tests for the last three weeks. All has been well so far, though, and Lincoln seems active and healthy.

Well, today we went in for what I thought was just a regular NST. After the doctor checked Lincoln's read-out, and then checked my cervix (still just dilated to a 2--no change from last week), she said, "So, do you want to have this baby on Monday or Wednesday?"  I just looked at her. Blink, blink.  Finally, I stuttered out, "Of next week? As in four days from now?"  "Yep!" she said cheerily. And then seeing that I was still a bit stunned, she said, "With his two vessel cord, I don't want this baby to go past his due date. He's full term now, so he'll be fine, but the longer we wait, the greater the risk to him."  So I said, "Oh, OK, then how about Monday, I guess."

So Monday it is. We will check into the hospital on Sunday night when they will put this balloon thing in my cervix and begin expanding it. By Monday morning, we should have reached 5cm, at which time, my doctor will come and break my water.  Hopefully, that will get things going and we could have a baby by noon, she said (though it's more likely by evening).  So, watch for phone calls on Monday--we'll keep you all posted.  We can't wait to meet our little guy, and to introduce him to you all.  Love you much!
Sheila & Charlie

Start saving money for your retirement.

First, Sheila made some blocks for Lincoln. They turned out great.
Second, with Lincoln on the way and after hearing one side of a phone conversation between Sean and Sheila, I want to suggest something to all of the families. Putting money away for your retirement should be started immediately. I know all of you have different incomes and expenses and I am not telling you what to do with your money. However, starting a retirement account when you are young(ish) is smart because you will save a lot more money in the long run. You can save a lot of tax money by using a pre-tax IRA and not even miss the money from your check!
I have been working with a financial adviser for about 10 years. The first year he charged me $400 and invested some money in pre-tax accounts, thus saving me close to $600 in taxes, saved money on my car insurance, gave me 2 free tickets to the Saturday round of the Memorial golf tournament plus hospitality suite (worth roughly $250), and invested my tiny savings into a much better mutual fund that had a higher return. I know the golf tickets were a fluke and my situation was not typical but he saved me money. He now talks to Sheila and I about 3 times a year and is available other times, if we need him. His name is Marc D. Arnold and he works for Ameriprise Financial in West Virginia. His number is 304-352-8200. Call him and tell him I sent you. If you don't want to talk to him go to your local bank or find another financial adviser to talk to. The first contact is free and they can tell you if they can help you or not. You may be surprised at how easy it is to save some money FOR YOU OR YOUR KIDS. Best of luck everyone.