Thomas & Ann Smith Palmer

Thomas Palmer was the only member of the family who accepted the Gospel at that time and came to Zion.  He was then twenty years of age.  About four years before leaving England he married Ann Smith, the 12th May 1844.  She was a faithful girl who also had joined the Mormons and was willing to sacrifice home, family, and friends in order that she might go to Zion, the promised land, and worship God as her conscience dictated and live under the radiant light of the Church.

Frances Starkins Palmer Baptism

Frances Starkins was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Daniel Brown on the17th of September, 1850, and confirmed by Henry Squires in the St. Albans Branch.  This shows a strength of character, to be able to make such a decision.  It must have been a shock to her parents and family as she was the only one of the family to join.  What was their reaction to this step she had made?  Was it bitterness and sending her from them, as many did, or did they accept her decision and allow her to still mingle with them?  It wasn’t for long, as on the 16th of December, 1850, she emigrated to America with other new members of the church, and was never to see her family again in this life.

Anna Christine Knudsen Forsgren

Anna Christine Knudsen and her parents must have been in the same company as Peter A. Forsgren. This quote “Peter A. Forsgren, Jens Knudsen (Anna Christine’s father), and --Sorensen were unanimously proposed and accepted to give these talks” is from a journal of the trip by ship.  Peter and Anna Christine were married in Keokuk upon their arrival there.

In an unusual home industry requiring the attention of the whole family, Christine Forsgren made 130 yards of silk during the 1880’s using a loom her weaver husband, Peter Forsgren – Mormonism’s first convert in Scandinavia – made for her.

Sarah Jane Ingram Smith

Sarah Jane Ingram or Jane, as she was called, was born in Worcestershire, England on the 9th of June, 1836. They came to St. Louis but were not there but a short time when the Black Measles broke out and both (parents) died within a week, leaving three small children, Richard 8 yrs old,  Jane 6 yrs. and Frances Ann 2 yrs., as orphans.

Her uncle used to do a lot of trading horses and cattle, one night he came and told Richard and Jane to put the horses in the stable. They heard a strange noise and ran to the house. The horses ran away in the woods. The uncle was angry, and was going to whip them but their aunt would not let him ­ so he went to see what it was and found a large wild hog in the stable, it came after him so he did not say anything to them. After that they soon moved from there.

They were acquainted with the Prophet Joseph Smith and saw him and his brother, Hyrum, after they were martyred.

William & Susanna Griffiths Ingram Emmigration

William Ingram and Susanna Griffiths were strong and good honest workers. They joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when it was first brought there (England). They emigrated to America in the year 1841 coming over in a sailing vessel [Yorkshire]. They experienced stormy weather but the sailors said not to worry they would be all right as there were a lot of Mormons on board the vessel.

Daniel William Smith

Daniel William Smith was the seventh child of eight children born to William Smith and Elizabeth Longhurst. We don't have his exact birth date, but his certificate of Baptism gives his baptism date as 8th October 1792. He was baptized in the Sherington Parish, county of Buckingham, England. Of the eight children, we know that his two brothers and three (possibly four) of his sisters died as children. We have a record of his oldest sister, Maria, marrying Robert Coleman.

Daniel & Sarah Wooding Smith

Sarah Wooding Smith, at age 48, was not only a widow, but death had claimed eight of her eleven Children, two of which- Mary Ann (10) and John Wooding (8)--had died within days of their father. Six of her other children---Ann, James William, William, Mary Ann b. 1833, Daniel, and Jabez--had died in England as children. Only three of her eleven children remained--George (who was still in England), Samuel, and Jane Louisa.

"She will always be remembered by the people in the Salt Lake City community in her time for her charity toward the poor, the homeless, and the weary as they pioneered their way into this Rocky Mountain retreat. It was at her home that the Ingram orphans, Richard, Sarah Jane, and Frances Ann found “shelter, food and love." (Later Sarah Jane and Frances Ann became her daughters in-law when they married Sarah's son, Samuel.)

On 5 August 1845 Daniel, Sarah and their son, Samuel Smith, had their Patriarchal Blessing given them by Patriarch John Smith. Exactly one month and five days later, Daniel died either in or on the outskirts of Nauvoo.

In order to clarify what future genealogists may think is an error in Sarah Wooding Smith's records, I might mention that her daughter Jane Louisa and Jesse Turpin were sealed by Brigham Young at his home on 8 January 1850. At the same time, Sarah was sealed to her deceased husband, Daniel Smith. Then, though it seems strange to us in this day, Sarah Wooding Smith and Jesse Turpin, her son-in-law, were married for time. This was a marriage in name only; and, although we don't know just why this was done, apparently there were several instances when this occurred. Sarah lived with her daughter, Jane, and her husband the remainder of her life.