Ann Sinclair and Robert Marshall

Quick note:

This is a time that keeping a "Book of Rememberance" has really truly helped.  My grandma, Ella Mae, had put together books of rememberance for each of her sons. I was going through my dad's and she had put a pedigree chart with small pictures of relatives of the McKinnon side. I was doing research on Ann and Robert Marshall and could not find ANY other pictures of them. On Memorial Day, my parents, Heather and I went to some cemteries that we hadn't been to before where our ancestors are buried. We went to the Bountiful one and searched for Ann and Robert Marshall, because we knew they were buried there. We couldn't find anything for them, so we went into the office to ask the caretaker where it was. As soon as I said the name, Robert Marshall, she showed me that all of the information they had on him was open on her desk. She was actually in the process of trying to find pictures and history of Robert and Ann and was not having any luck. The reason why she was researching them is because  Robert and Ann do NOT have a headstone and every year the Bountiful Cemetery puts out a book with histories of people that don't have headstones, and the proceeds of the book go toward getting these people headstones. So I emailed her the following history, along with the photos that my Grandma had put in my dad's book of rememberance. It is the only known photograph of Robert Marshall and the only 2 of Ann. Little did Grandma realize that 40 years after putting them in the book, I would be submitting some of the work she had done for her beloved husband's ancestors. I thought that was pretty neat.

Robert Marshall  and    Ann Sinclair

    1822-1865                               1825-1903



How we relate:

They are the parents of William Andrew Marshall,

Who is the father of Minnie Marshall McKinnon,

Who is the mother of Byron Eugene McKinnon,

Who is the father of Don McKinnon

Robert Marshall was born 22 January 1822, near Rumbling Bridge, Stirling, Scotland.  His parents were James Marshall and Isabella Bran Marshall.  Robert was baptized by Mormon missionaries into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on January 3, 1842 by Elder Rob Menzies, and confirmed by Edward Mensies.

            In 1849, Robert left his country of Scotland alone to join the call for saints to gather together. He boarded the ship The Zetland and departed from Liverpool, England on January 29, 1849. Orson Spencer was the church leader on that voyage tending to 358 LDS immigrants. The Zetland arrived in New Orleans, Louisiana on April 2, 1849 and just 3 days later, the saints left New Orleans on the steamboat Iowa bound for St. Louis, Missouri.  During this time and at that part of the country, Cholera was common and spreading fast.  Soon after leaving New Orleans, cholera broke out among the passengers, and seven deaths occurred among the emigrants before the company arrived at their destination, three more died once they got there. 

              From St. Louis the Mormon emigrants continued the journey to Council Bluffs (Kanesville), Iowa,  arriving there on May 17, 1849 and joined the rest of the Mormon immigrants who would be heading west along with them.             Once arriving, Robert met Ann Sinclair Scott and her mother Ann Campbell Sinclair at Winter Quarters, Iowa.

  Ann Sinclair was born in Scotland on February 14, 1825. She had come with her mother and father to the USA in 1843. The Sinclair’s lived in New York for a few years and it was there Ann met and married a man named William Scott. Together Ann and William had one daughter named Mary Elizabeth.  Ann and her husband William, along with her parents joined a party of Mormons traveling west and spent the winter in one of the temporary tent villages known as Winter Quarters along the Missouri River during the harsh winter of 1848-1849.  Many Saints died that winter.  Ann and her mother, Ann, spent the winter nursing the sick. The hardships proved too much for William Scott and he left with a group of apostates and returned to the East and was never seen again.

Among the sick was Ann’s father, Daniel Sinclair. He had contracted the Cholera that was among the saints and died, leaving both Ann, her daughter, Mary, and her mother, Ann, alone to drive the wagon westward. 

The William S. Muir Company was getting ready to head westward when Ann’s mother. Ann. heard about Robert Marshall - a bachelor who had come alone to be with the saints and had no one to travel with. Ann (the mother) hired the young Robert Marshall to drive her oxen to the Salt Lake Valley, realizing it would be beneficial to both parties.                   

            The trek was difficult. Robert Marshall, Ann Sinclair and her mother along with the rest of the company suffered many hardships. Ann walked most of the way across the plains. She told of a time when they were so hungry, they boiled their leather shoe strings to try to derive some kind of nourishing soup from it. After the long trek across the plains and suffering many hardships, they arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in the fall of 1849, with 2 yoke of oxen, and a covered wagon, which held all their earthly belongings in it.

            Soon after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, Robert Marshall and Ann Sinclair Scott were married.  Admiration and love for each other could not help but grow, after all the troubles and trials they had passed through together while on the trail.  So it was no surprise when they were married in the following October 1849.  The wedding of Ann Sinclair Scott and Robert Marshall was the first marriage ceremony to be performed in Bountiful. They were sealed three years later, in the Endowment House, on the 11 August 1852.    

            They settled down in the Session’s Settlement (now West Bountiful, Davis County), Utah.  They had nine children. The children’s names in chronological order are: Mary Elizabeth Scott (from Ann’s first marriage), Robert (died when he was 5 yrs old), Daniel, James, Enoch (died at 1 yr of age), Wallace, William, Elijah and Robenia. 

             Robert Marshall worked hard at building up his homestead and raising his family – most of whom were boys.  Robert had 4 oxen and a good wagon. When they had settled in Bountiful, he immediately hauled logs from the canyon, built a house, granary, stables, sheds and corrals.  He proved to be a very good farmer and a hard worker. His wife Ann had followed in her mother’s footsteps and worked as a midwife and nurse. 

            Robert had sent for his mother Isabella Bran Marshall who was still living in Scotland and had her come live with them for a while in Utah.  She was a large strong woman, and she worked in the fields with him, while Ann took care of the babies and the

housework.

            In 1857, the US President (James Buchanan) didin’t like that a Mormon leader was the Governor of Utah (Brigham Young.)  So he sought to end a supposed rebellion in the Utah territory that was going on by the Mormons. In May of 1857, he assembled troops of 2,500 to get ready to be sent to Utah, the leader was Albert Sidney Johnston.  The saints had heard of this army that was coming and due to the past experience with Johnston, they were that the large US military force had been sent to annihilate them. Many of the saints prepared to move south to Provo or further. Due to the threats that had been made by Johnston and what his soldiers were going to do to Utah and its villages, Brigham Young declared Martial Law in August of that year. He also sent word to the general in charge that they were ready to fight any attempted invasion.

            They rendered every house in Salt Lake City, ready to set fire to, if the army started to siege the city.  They left, leaving a few men behind to start the fires if it became necessary.  They didn’t want them to be able to profit off of anything the saints had worked so hard for, as they had in Nauvoo.

            During  this time, Robert Marshall had been preparing along with others.  They bought lumber, built large boxes, and put their wheat in them.  They hauled them off to the mountains and hid them in caves, ledges of rocks and any other place that would be a good hiding spot.

            Robert’s and Ann’s oldest daughter, Mary Scott Marshall, was 12 years old by this time, Daniel Sinclair was 6 years, and James was 3.  Mary took care of the boys, and went with the rest of the Latter Day Saint people to Provo while her parents stayed back and got provisions ready.

            The army was supposed to wait for permission from his superiors before entering Salt Lake City, but General Johnston was headstrong and ignored the fact that they had no permission many of the orders from his superiors and tried to go forward. Brigham Young had dispatched the Mormon militia called the Nauvoo Legion, and the men spent countless nights in the mountains trying to prevent the army from entering the valley. The army, after many fail attempts to enter in the valley due to weather conditions and lack of feed, headed to Fort Bridger  Wyoming to make camp for the winter.

            In the meantime, President Buchanan had been receiving criticism for launching an army without any investigation to see whether the Mormon’s really were rebelling. Mediators began to leave for Utah to stop the fighting which was to begin. By March of 1859, the Mormons had decided not to resist federal authority.  The president sent a non-Mormon man named Alfred Cumming  to replace Brigham Young as Governor. The Mormons liked Cummings and they got along well with him. Later that spring, the Johnston Army finally made its way into the Salt Lake Valley, but they marched right on through, neither side harming the other.  They continued on and made camp at Cedar Valley for some time.  

            The Marshall family gathered up the boxes of the wheat they had hid and sold it along with other produce to the Army.  So in the end, Johnston’s Army turned out to be a blessing, rather than annihilation to the Latter Day Saint people.

             Robert Marshall’s mother, Isabella Bran Marshall, and also the parents of William S. Muir, who owned the adjoining farm, would not go South with the rest of the migration to the South.  They stayed on the farms and raised large crops of potatoes and wheat, and sold them to the Army.

            During this time, the unfortunate event of the Mountain Meadows Massacre occurred.  As a result of the Massacre, there were several children who became orphans and were left with our church, and they were put in the care of Isabella Bran and the Muirs, and they took them back to their relatives in the East.

              Isabella Bran Marshall eventually went back to Scotland and nothing more is known of her. Robert and Ann again settled down on their farm and built a nice home and moved from the log house into it. It had 4 or 5 big rooms, and a full basement, where they could store fruit and vegetables.

            One day they all went to town, (Salt Lake City), when they were returning, about half way home, they saw a big smoke, and as they came closer, discovered it was their own home.  When they arrived home, all that was left was the rock foundation and ashes. Robert built another house, just like the first one, on the old rock foundation and still had the full basement for storage.  Before the home was fully completed, the cold weather set in and due to the weather and overexposure, Robert contracted Pneumonia and died on December 21, 1865. He was only 43 years of age when he died, so in 17 years, from the time he was married, he built up his homestead, raised a family, 8 living 3 had passed away.  He was always a good friend and neighbor, and lived an honorable life. 



Ann with her daughters Mary and Robenia

             Ann was left to raise the rest of her family alone. She had many struggles and tribulations and it was no small job trying to teach five boys in the way they should live. When the crops were harvested, every tenth pumpkin, every tenth sack of potatoes, etc. was set aside for tithing.

            Ann continued to work as a midwife. She always had a clean dress hung on a nail at the head of her bed that she could put on at a moment’s notice since most of the time she was called out in the night. She charged three dollars to attend to a mother and baby for ten days. One time, Ann was called to assist a mother that was about to give birth, she went outside to get into the buggy, but noticed there was no horse. When she inquired about that, the expectant father said “Never mind the horse, just get into the buggy!” When she was seated, he took the place of the horse and started on. Ann, having a keen sense of humor, noticed the buggy whip and when he would start to slow down, she didn’t hesitate to tap him with it.

            Ann never married again after the death of Robert and lived until 1903. She and Robert are buried in the Bountiful Cemetery, they have no headstone as of yet.

Sources:

·         History of Robert Marshall compiled by Robert Grant Marshall (grandson)

·         Millennial Star, Volume XI, pages 56, 155, 183,254.  Frontier Guardian, of May 2, 1849,   cont. 13:5 (Mar. 1892) ,P.234

·         Autobiography of Minnie Marshall McKinnon

·         http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_War

Daniel Sinclair and Ann Campbell

Daniel Sinclair  and  Ann Campbell

(1785-1849)           (1788-1857)

How we relate:

They are the parents of Ann Sinclair Marshall

who is the mom of William Andrew Marshall

who is the dad of Minnie Marshall McKinnon

who is the mom of Byron McKinnon

 who is the dad of Don McKinnon

Thus they are my Great, great, great Grandparents.

 Daniel and Ann were married in Killin, Perth, Scotland on December 18, 1808.  After they were married, the Sinclair’s lived in Killin. They had nine children, three of whom died as infants. Four of her children came to America. She had one son, Peter, who didn't come, and became lost to the family after they left for America.

At some time before 1826, the Sinclairs moved to Doune, the birthplace of Daniel’s father.  By that time, the family consisted of six girls and one boy.  In Doune, Daniel was employed at Doune Castle as a caretaker. .  Doune Castle was a 400 year old (at that time) castle a few miles north of Stirling.

The first LDS missionaries came to Scotland in 1840, and the Sinclairs were introduced to and embraced this new religion soon afterwards. Perhaps this new religion filled a void in their lives. He reported himself as a shepherd to the census taker in 1841 and by 1842 most of the family had been converted and baptized. 

During this period of Mormon history, the saints in England were encouraged to gather in America for the strengthening of the church.  New members were advised to move to the City of Nauvoo as quickly as possible to receive their temple endowments.  Daniel and Ann Sinclair, upon hearing the call to gather, worked hard to make immigrating to America a reality.  They sold their possessions to obtain money for their passage to Zion. Ann (who the McKinnon line comes out of), their youngest and only unmarried daughter, would travel with them. The other daughters and their families would be able to join them as soon as money became available.

Daniel, Ann and daughter, Ann, bid farewell to their homeland and boarded the ship “Xylon” at Liverpool for the voyage to America. On September 9, 1843 they arrived in New York Harbor.

The Sinclairs stayed for a short time in Slab City, NY. It was there Ann met and married William Scott.  The group joined a party of Mormons traveling west and spent the winter in one of the temporary tent villages along the Missouri River during the harsh winter of 1848-1849.  Many Saints died and both Anns spent the winter nursing the sick as well as performing many other services for those around them. The hardships proved too much for William Scott. He left with a group of apostates and returned to the East, never to be seen again.

Among the sick was Ann’s father Daniel Sinclair. He eventually succumbed to Cholera that was among the saints and died, leaving both Ann’s alone without a man to help drive the wagon westward. 

The William S. Muir Company was getting ready to head west when Ann (the mother) heard about Robert Marshall - a bachelor who had come alone to America and had no one to travel with.  Ann hired the young Robert Marshal to drive her oxen to the Salt Lake Valley, realizing it would be beneficial to both parties. Ann (the daughter) and Robert got married later that year.

They arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in the fall of 1849 and shortly after settled in the  Sessions Settlement which is now Bountiful.  

Ann Campbell Sinclair worked as a midwife and nurse.  On June 30, 1857, Ann was stricken with apoplexy after returning home from assisting a patient.  She lived only a short time after that.

 

Sources:

·         Excerpts from “To Them it Was Real,” family history compiled by Bob Dix, 2000

·         http://macfarlane-sinclair.org/index.php?page=3

My Great great GREAT Grandpa.

Alanson David Allen

1829-1887

How we Relate

Father of Emeline Clarissa Allen Bingham
who was Leonard Bingham’s mother
 who was Ella Mae Bingham McKinnon’s father
who was Don McKinnon’s mother.

Alanson was born May 2, 1829 at Deposit, Thompkins, Delaware County, New York. He was the son of Albern Allen and Marcia Allen. He was the second child in a family with nine children. His parents learned of the gospel in New York and were baptized in the year 1835 – just 5 years after the reorganization of the one true church. Alanson had to wait 2 more years until the age of 8 and was baptized in 1837.

Soon after his baptism, his parents took their family to journey along with the saints and settled in Missouri. After settling in Missouri for a couple of years, the saints began the Nauvoo exodus on April 2, 1846 in a cold snowstorm.

Alanson and the Prophet Joseph Smith were at Nauvoo together and talked with   many times. He was near the scene at the time of his martytrdom and heard the shot that killed him. 

The saints had run out of supplies, resources, and had little hope of any source of income by this time. But the national scene was focused on Mexico and that would prove both a trial and a blessing to the starving and freezing saints.   

The next month saw some skirmishes with Mexico and the United States declared war on Mexico on May 13.  At this time a call came from the United States Government to the authorities of the L. D. S. Church for five hundred volunteers to form the Mormon Battalion to fight Mexico. In accepting this call, Brigham Young told the volunteers that if they did their duty, they would not be called on to shed blood, and in fulfillment of this promise, their only fighting was with wild cattle.  That opened a door of opportunity for the saints to join in the war and provide for their families during these difficult times. After arriving at Winter Quarters, Alanson’s father and his older brother, Rufus, enlisted in the Mormon Battalion in Company “A”.  Alanson, being 17 years old at the time, was left to be responsible for and care for his mother and siblings along with his aged maternal grandparents Gideon and Rachel Allen.  

Later that summer, Alanson realized their need for winter supplies such as food and other necessities. He went back to Eastern Missouri and purchased crops on a farm still in the ground, harvested them and took them to Winter Quarters which gave the family sufficient supply for the winter. Alanson was dependable and often times overworked to do the job assigned him.  One story is told that he was cutting wood for fuel one day; he became so tired and overworked that he passed out. While he was unconscious, Alanson tells of a vision that he had of the Great Salt Lake Valley and what it would look like. This vision proved to be helpful because once arriving in the valley, he already seemed acquainted with the road all the way when he came to Ogden.

In the spring of 1848 Alanson’s mother and siblings left Winter Quarters to trek across the country to reach Zion. They were in one of Brigham Young’s Companies. They settled in Wyoming and were reunited with the family father Albern and brother, Rufus who had been discharged from the army in July of 1847.  It was there that Albern and Rufus learned of the two young daughters and sisters had died in Winter Quarters, Rachel age 10, and Sarah Ann age 3.

 Alanson and his grandparents waited for an unknown reason and according to church records came west in 1849 with the George Albert Smith/Dan Jones company.  This company had approximately 447 individuals and 120 wagons when it began its journey. This company traveled closely with the Ezra T. Benson company.  

The following are random journal excerpts from those traveling in the same company as Alanson:

“We came in contact with many Indians, but were never harmed by them, for instead of fighting them every one gave them food.” – Abigail Smith Abbott

“We started out to cross the Plains for Great Salt lake[.] we traveled on slowly and nothing special ocured worthy of note thare but little sickness and no deaths in camp)[.] But i will name one little insident that occured on the 2nd of October near the South Pass[.] We was cau[gh]t in a great storm that lasted 36 hours which killed over 70 head of our cattle and horses: that weakened our team some; But after the storm ceased we shoveled our way out and traveled on again[.] We did not travel many miles untill we came to where thare was no snow and all was fair weather. Which continued untill the 26 of October when we arived safe in Salt lake City. and broke up camp entirely. having been four months & a half on the Plains. But was happy now to meet with our Bretheren that had also come up through great tribulation and made them a home in the m[oun]t[ain]s” – William Draper

“On the 7th of July we started across the Plains in Brother George A. Smith's company. We had a good time until we reached Sweetwater. Then we had snowstorms and lost many cattle. We had to throw away trunks and baggage to make the loads lighter. I took malarial fever. We had to burn buffalo chips for wood. We saw many buffaloes. Helped to care for John Henry Smith while crossing the plains.” – Phebe Abigail Abbott Brown Fife

After arriving in Utah, Rufus, Alanson and younger brother Marshall made six trips back along the pioneer trail helping companies of Saints reach their destination.

Alanson’s father had met a man named Stephen Hadlock back in Nauvoo. They were visiting one day and Stephen was praising Alanson to Albern, telling him of the fine qualities he saw in his son. Stephen’s daughter Chastina was present during that conversation and had said jokingly, “Who is this fine young man...and if he is all you say he is I'll marry him."  Little did she know that would truly come to pass.   Alanson and Chastina were married in September 1850. They were later sealed in 1856.

Alanson and Chastina had their first child in 1851 – Emeline Clarissa.  Shortly after her birth, they were called by Brigham Young to go to Willard and help settle the area known then as 3-Mile Creek. Four years later they returned to Ogden and lived about 3 years. He was a farmer and always had several cows. They pastured the cows just across the Weber River in the vicinity of Wilson Lane. They lived in a little log cabin close to where the Union Depot now stands.

In 1860, Brigham Young called them to go to Hyrum, Cache County and help with the settlement there .  Some of the settlers had to live in dugouts temporarily, Alanson and two other families had built cabins in the south hollow on the Little Bear River, but they eventually moved into the fort for better protection.

  Alanson was a farmer and had a well-kept farm on which he kept cows, pigs, horses and always several head of sheep from which they secured the wool to make their clothing. After living in Hyrum 6 years, they moved to Huntsville, Weber County, where they lived the rest of their lives.

During these years, Alanson had been part of the Utah Militia. In 1857 he and 5 other men, were sent to Salmon River to help a company of Immigrants who were having trouble with the Indians. Only one man was killed in the battle, but they all suffered terribly from exposure. Alanson’s health was never well after that. During this time, the saints had been informed of a U.S. army that was heading their way. Young prepared the Utah Milita and declared martial law. Alanson took part in this “Utah War”. Though there were some casualties from this time, there was never one battle and resolution was made through negotiations.  In 1861 Alanson made Captain of the militia and served in this capacity until 1866. At this time there were a great many Indians around and the settlers were having a good deal of trouble with them all through the country.

There are many stories of Alanson’s kindness towards all people, especially the Indians in the territory. One evening, Alanson and Chastina’s daughter, Sarah Ann, went out to the ditch to get some water. An older Indian came up in back of her. She turned and saw him and screamed before he could harm her. The Indian had planned on killing the family dog for food, but Alanson, hearing his daughter’s scream, had run out to see what was wrong. Alanson talked to the Indian and gave him some food. The Indian thanked him and never returned to harm the family again

Another time, in the month of February, an old Indian came to his home asking for some flour. Alanson told the Indian that they had but two sacks left, which they needed since there were 16 people in the family.  The old Indian asked again, and Alanson, having compassion shared the little flour that they had.  

Alanson worked hard to keep their family of 14 children fed. He worked mainly at farming, but also sought other employment. He worked on the railroad with the crew that finished the grade into Ogden. According to his daughter, he was there when the last spike was driven.  During this time his family was rather low on supplies and one son remembered their diet was mostly bran mush and bran bread.

He and his wife, Chastina, raised 14 children, all of them growing to maturity. Happy, good, honest, trustworthy citizens. Some of them filled missions for the church and nearly all of them were active in church and civic affairs. Their boys and girls have been leading citizens in the communities in which they have lived all their lives. The thirteen children who married all have families. Mary, the youngest daughter, was the only one who didn't marry.

Later in his life, in the 1870’s, Alanson served a short mission to Independence, Missouri to settle some disputes. He was not there long due to his failing health. He passed away March 5, 1887 at the age of 58. Alanson had been ordained a member of the Quorum of the Seventy and held that position at the time of his death. Alanson and his wife are buried in Ogden, Utah.