Family History

Stake Family History Center 

(303-421-0920)

Tuesday   10:00 am - 7:00 pm

Thursday  10:00 am - 7:00 pm

Saturday   10:00 am - 2:00 pm

If you have any stories to share we would love to include them here!



FAMILY HISTORY STORIES FROM THE STAKE RELIEF SOCIETY

Faith & Courage

    I thought this would be interesting to look into with the family. So I asked my mother and she gave the family tree book of the Mons and Larson family and there life of coming across Utah into Arizona to settle in the San Juan Valley in the 1800’s.   It has become more than just one story.  I have found out from family members that I come from a very good and strong line of faith and courage going back to the 1860’s of my Great, Great grandmother who I found out is already written about in the book The UNDAUNTED:  Of faith and courage of the pioneers.  I found out that my great, great grandmother Olivia, her brother was born after they crossed the San Juan River just after they did the miracle of the hole in the rock that is in this book.  After they had just been lowered with ropes (with everything they owned. (Livestock and all)), through the hole they had just craved (it was really just a big crack in the rock). This really happened to my family.  This was a very hard life they chose to do for the call of the church.                                                                                                                                                                                                             

    These women and children had more courage and faith than I feel I have. They would walk 15 to 20 miles a day (this was not on paths or trails that we have now to walk and hike on) but ground they were crossing for the first time for anyone.  They built wagons and had frost bite from walking in snow with only cloth raped around their feet because the shoes they had ore out.                                                                            

    This reminded me of the youth trip the second ward just did for Pioneer days to the temple.  They started this walk at 5:30 and it took them all day just like it did in the 1800’s but they had sidewalks to walk on they walked the 15 miles. They were all tired after words (just think all of our ancestors did this very day besides building fires making dinner putting children to sleep to do it all again the next day.  It took this entire woman at lot of courage and faith to do this every day and I am very thankful they did.

                    Thank you sister, Colleen Wagner 2^nd ward Arvada. 

I would like to share a story about my Grandmother, Matilda Anena Olsen McAffee.

She was born in1893 in Emery, Utah.  She always loved Primary and had her first teaching assignment in Primary at the age of 13.  As a young mother,in Darlington, Idaho,  she would put her young children on the back of a horse and then lead the horse 3 miles to get to the ward building to attend Primary.  She was the Primary President at that time.  In 1934 her family moved to Alter Creek, Idaho and there she organized a home primary that was attended by children of two other families along with her own children.  While living in Alter Creek, her husband suffered a severe heart attack.  Matilda had to then work the fields with her boys until they were old enough to do the work themselves.  Even though Matilda worked hard in the fields, she remained faithful in the church, serving several years as Stake Primary President.  She had to travel great distances to visit all the Primaries in her Stake.  She was a great storyteller and her grandchildren loved hearing stories from the Friend magazine as well as stories about her own family.

I consider it a privilege to share the same church calling that my grandmother so faithfully fulfilled.    She was and is a great example of church service to me.  She magnified her callings even though it was not easy to do.

Lyniss France

3rd Ward

My name is Virginia Calley and she would be my great aunt.

My Mothers Aunt ( my grandmothers sister) has a very interesting story.  Her name is Mary Sophia Louisa Christensen Nelson.  I met her when I was about 9 and she was living in a tiny 2 room house in Idaho Falls, ID.  We called her Aunt Sophia.  Her parents were Niels Christensen and Karen Elizabeth Nielson. They were both born in Soro, Denmark.  Mary Sophia Louisa was born on October 30th, 1876 at Bested, Soro, Denmark, the 3rd living child. When she was a little over 2 years of age her parents decided to come to America.  They arrived in America during the winter of 1879 and settled in St. Charles, Idaho.  Sophia's mother brought her up  in righteousness, reading the scriptures and stories from the Bible and church works to the children every evening before going to bed.  Sophia loved to hear theses stories as she was always religiously inclined and loved to learn about Jesus.  One night she wanted her mother to make a bed outside for her so the Lord would come and take her.  Her mother did as she wished and Sophia lay looking into the starry sky watching patiently for the Lord to come down and get her.  After a few hours it got quite cold and finally her mother came out and took her in explaining to her that the Lord probably wasn't ready to come get her yet.  She was satisfied.  Sophia was baptized in Bear Lake Idaho and was confirmed a member of the church on Nov 13, 1884.  She apparently was so afraid she would drown that she cried and clung to the wagon heel, They had quite a time getting her in the water.  She also only finished the 4th grade and Danish was the language spoken in the home.  My grandmother, Ida Christensen,  was the youngest and was born in Wyoming in 1890.   She could speak English, but her 8 or so siblings continued their native language most of their lives.

The Christensen family was very poor and struggled and Father Niels moved them to  Star Valley in Wyoming as Brigham Young instructed them to settle that beautiful land.  He worked building the Logan temple and lived to be 95.

My mother always called her Aunt Sophie and her sister Aunt Stein.  These two women in their later lives, moved to Idaho Falls, Idaho.  When I knew them they lived in 2 small houses by the river.  Their homes were spotless and very tiny - a bedroom/livingroom and a small area for  kirchen and an outdoor bathroom and very Danish. They cleaned every day.   But what I remember most is that for the last years of their lives, they worked in the Idaho Falls temple.  They walked to the temple every day and did this for at least 15 years and spent most of every day at the temple until 1964.  Aunt Sophia lived to be 88

This is just a small part of her story.

The story below is an ancestor to John & Shelley Pack (our Stake RS President)

Julia Ives Pack 1817-1896

About the first of September (1838) the mob began to gather against the Mormons, made attacks on them, burning houses in some places.  We moved into Far West and stayed there until Brigadier General Parks and Mr. Donovan came on the scene and dispersed the mob and sent them home.  We went back to our home (in Davies County, Missouri).  Shortly after, a company of immigrants came, bringing word that Levi Wood, husband of Phoebe Pack, my husband’s sister, had died at Huntsville, Missouri, and that she was very sick, unto death.  My husband and I started next day to go and look after them.  Our first day’s journey took us within five miles of Grand River Ferry.  We stopped all night at a neighbor’s house.  There was but one room in the house and the landlady made us a bed on the floor.  About the middle of the night, the man of the house came home complained of being very tired and that he had not had his boots off for several nights.  He had been in the mob camp that was gathered against the Saints at Dewitt on the Missouri River.  We started on our journey the next morning and were nearly to the ferry when a company of armed men, about thirty in number, met us.  About half of them had passed when the head man wheeled about, rode up to our wagon, and asked if we were Mormons.  My husband told him we were, and he told us we would have to go with them to their camp.  He ordered us to wheel about.  They took us about five miles across a new rough road to their camp.  The leader of the gang came up to our wagon and ordered my husband to take his valise and follow them, saying, “We take you for a spy.”  He said to me, “You can bid your husband goodbye.  You will never see him again.  You can go to that house,” pointing to a log house across the hollow.  I told him I would not go one inch.  I said, “If my husband dies, I will die with him.”  I put my foot on the wheel of the wagon to jump to the ground when my husband took hold of my hand and whispered to me, “You stay with the wagon and take care of the horses, I am not afraid of them and will be back soon.”  They took him through a patch of hazel brush to an open space covered with grass.  Sachel Woods, a Methodist minister said: “Here will be your grave, we are going to kill you unless you will deny Joe Smith.”  My husband said: “Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God.  You profess to be a preacher of righteousness and so do I.  I’ll meet you at the day of judgment.”

There were five or six of them.  They talked around inquiring who would shoot him, but none seemed really willing to do the deed.  Finally a man standing by our wagon called out – “Let that damned Mormon go.”  Soon they came back with him, ordered him back into his wagon, saying if we were ever seen in that country again, it would be at the peril of our lives.  They sent the same company back with us to the ferry and saw us across the river.  We went on to our sister at Huntsville and found her very sick.  She was completely salivated with calomel and was near her death.  We stayed two weeks and did all we could for her, then put a bed in our wagon and placed her on it with her little child six months old.  We left the three older children with a Mormon family, Amos Herrick.

We started on our journey home and got as far as Carlton, a small town forty miles from our home.  At a grog shop in this town were several of the mob that took us prisoners.  They knew us and said: “There are the ones we took prisoners.  Let us go for Sachel Woods.”  A man jumped on his horse and went full speed and started for somewhere.  We went a short distance through a piece of timber, then left the road and started for home across the prairie. Two or three times during the night we came to deep narrow gullies cut by the storms in the rich soil.  My husband would unhitch the horses, get them over, then we would draw the wagon over by hand, it being a light wagon something like the delivery wagons we have now.  We reached our home shortly after daybreak and found my husband’s brother, Rufus Pack, there sick with chills and fever.  The mob and returned and were annoying the Saints, driving them out of their homes and burning their dwellings. 

This story brought tears to my eyes when I first read it – I am humbled to realize the great courage these ancestors had.  I am amazed at the immediate reaction that my great, great, great grandmother and grandfather had to stand against the mob.  These people knew Joseph Smith personally and knew he was a prophet of God and were willing to give their lives for that knowledge.  That is so inspiring to me!

Metrodora Evagelatos

My paternal great-grandmother, Metrodora Dendrinos Evagelatos, was born on the island of Kefallonia, Greece.  Her family was very poor and dreamed of immigrating to America, but the passage on a ship for their family was very expensive.  Her husband sailed to New York first, landing at Ellis Island, and began earning money by selling hot peanuts from a rented cart.  He sent all the money he could home to her.  He would return to Greece to visit every 2-3 years, and after each of those visits, Metrodora would have another child, all alone. She raised four children by herself while her husband worked in another country, all for the dream of someday becoming Americans.  

In 1932, Metrodora sent her 14-year-old son Frangiscos "Frank" (my grandfather) alone on a ship to America to join his father.  Frank and his father continued working and saving money to bring the rest of the family to America. 

By all accounts, Metrodora was a very smart, resourceful woman.  When a major earthquake devastated the island of Kefallonia in 1953, my great-grandmother figured out how to use dynamite to excavate the rocky hillside for new homes.  She mixed her own concrete for foundations.  She rebuilt her own modest family home all by herself and helped many other villagers in Komitata to rebuild their homes as well.  

Finally, in 1948, the family had enough money for everyone to be reunited in America. When Metrodora stepped off the ship in New York, she hadn't seen her son Frank in 23 years.   He had already served in World War II, had a wife and child, and was starting to lose his hair.  The first thing Metrodora said when she saw him was, "What happened to your hair?!"  

I love this story because it reminds me of all of the difficult things my grandfather's family had to do to become Americans.  They were pioneers because even though it took more than two decades, they had a goal to become American citizens, and they made it happen.  Our family is very proud of our American citizenship today because of their sacrifices.  

- Heather Robertson

Ann Smith Streeton Menlove

1843 – 1922

Ann was born on December 2, 1843 in Redbourn, England.   Her mother, Hester, accepted the gospel message in 1838.  Hester had her daughter Ann baptized at the age of eight by the LDS missionaries.  Ann, born into the poorer class was not able to attend school.  She worked as a servant girl in wealthy homes.  She returned home on Sundays to attend Latter Day Saints religious services.

As Ann matured, she found a job weaving in the silk mill in St. Albans, Hertsfordshire.  Joseph Menlove, a handsome young man two years her senior, worked at the loom next to her. Joseph had black wavy hair worn to his shoulders (which was the fashion of that day) and stunning black eyes.  The side-glances he gave her were very enticing and they soon became good friends.  She was pleased to find that he did not have the bad habits of drinking and smoking.

Ann’s religious training was that she should find a husband of her own faith so she consulted the missionaries about this.   They advised her that since there were no available young men around there who were Mormons and that if he was of good character and she loved him and thought he would make a good partner, then she should marry him.  Maybe he would be of her faith someday.

Joseph and Ann married on Valentine’s Day 1864.  Their first home was a two-room apartment.  Both Joseph and Ann continued to work in the silk mill.  Joseph also rented a small plot of land to grow vegetables to eat and to sell.  When LDS missionaries were in the area, they made their headquarters in Joseph and Ann’s small home.  Ann said many homesick missionary had laid his head in her lap and sobbed out of homesickness to her, but after a good cry, a good meal, encouraging words, freshly washed and mended clothing, he would go on his way ready to work again. 

Three children were born to the young couple within their first five years of marriage.  The visiting missionaries gave their third child, Zina Menlove, a name and a blessing.  During the blessing, Zina was blessed that through her the family would be able to immigrate to Utah.   Ann thought, “Oh, if we have to wait until this little daughter gets old enough to do anything, maybe we will never get to Zion but God moves in mysterious way his wonders to perform.”  Joseph, a quiet, thoughtful, good man was baptized one summer evening in 1869.  He was ordained a traveling elder of that district.  He walked 20 miles to London meetings.  Starting out on foot about 4 am on Sunday morning and returning home about midnight to catch a few hours sleep before time for work in the silk mill on Monday morning.

Eleven children were born into their family with all but two living to adulthood.  Ann learned how to plait and braid straw for hats to supplement the family income after all the children were tucked in for the night.  Ann and Joseph saved every penny they could but the needs of a growing family regularly dipped into their meager savings.  Saving enough money for the whole family to immigrate to Zion seemed impossible.

In 1882-3, many English Saints immigrated to Utah.  The Menlove family did not have enough money saved to accompany them.  Isaiah Coombs, a missionary from Payson, Utah, was one of the overseers of the company of saints that were leaving for Zion.  He told Joseph and Ann their twelve-year-old daughter Zina could accompany his family on the trip.  They promised to care for her until the rest of the family could arrive.  Ann remembering Zina’s blessing consented to let Zina go to Zion with the Coombs.

As soon as Zina left, Ann reconsidered the decision to let Zina go.  Ann’s grief almost over came her and she could hardly be comforted, blaming herself and Joseph for such a foolish act.  Letters arrived assuring the family of Zina’s safe arrival but Ann thought she could see tears between the lines and the longing for Mother and home.   As the sun went down, Ann would sit tearfully and wonder if the sun was shining on her dear little Zina and if she was being well treated.  Zina married at the age of sixteen, which caused her parents more grief for their dear daughter.  Zina and her husband David Butler sent money to England for a brother to immigrate and help earn the money needed for passage for the rest of the family.  Ann’s eldest son William joined his sister in Payson, Utah. 

William worked hard with David on the farm.  The following season’s crops were exceptionally good, allowing the whole family to move to Zion in 1889.  Crossing the Atlantic Ocean on a sailing ship, they arrived in the New York harbor on the evening of July 3. 1889.  The immigration office was closed on July 4 for Independence Day.  The family had to stay in the port behind the locked gates for a day waiting entrance into their new country.  On July 6, they boarded a westbound train in the New York railway station.   Their three-week journey by train was long, hot and uncomfortable.  They longed for a bed to rest their heads instead of hard train benches.  William and Zina met the train in Salt Lake City with a “fine span of horses and a new wagon.” Zina could hardly contain her excitement to see her family again. They placed hay in the wagon bed to provide cushion for the two-day journey back to Spring Lake.  Ann was terrified of getting into this wagon behind the lively horses.  She said, “They could run away and kill us all—and after all we have gone through to get here.”  William and Zina assured her that the team was trusty and under control.  Putting her trust in her children’s words, Ann climbed into the wagon for the trip to Zina’s home in Spring Lake. 

Years later, sons Ernest and Walter told their parents how thankful they were that they had the compelling spirit to gather to Zion and the fortitude to bring them to this choice land where their posterity could enjoy all the advantages of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Ann said, “That expression of gratitude paid for all the sacrifice.”

Condensed from history written (February 1958) by their daughter-in-law, Ines Selman Daniels

Kathy Tarullo, 

(2^nd great, grand-daughter, Kathy Lichfield Tarullo– Ernest Lichfield– Beulah Menlove Lichfield – Ernest Alfred Menlove – Joseph and Ann Menlove)