Year of 1900, Utah Newspaper Article's Reports "NARROW ESCAPE FROM DEATH" of Samuel LeRoy Hepworth

Samuel LeRoy Hepworth b 10 July 1881 - d 5 Oct 1946  

   Samuel LeRoy Hepworth was the third  child and only son of Samuel Hepworth and Mary Jane Powell. He was seventeen years old when his father died (1898) and nineteen when his mother died in 1900.  In October of 1900 Roy (the name he was known by) had a near death accident. 
I thought all three articles were so interesting that I have posted all three.   The first article was in:

The Deseret News on 18 Oct 1900

NARROW ESCAPE FROM DEATH

   Roy Hepworth, a young man nineteen years of age, had a narrow escape from a frightful death shortly after nine o'clock this morning upon the tracks of the Oregon Short Line on North Temple street. 

Hepworth was driving a delivery wagon, belonging to Hepworth & sons, the butchers, attached to which were two horses, going in a westerly direction on North Temple and Fourth West streets, when the tail end of the rig he was riding in was struck by an Oregon Short  Line train coming from the North.  The young man was thrown from his seat, clean over the horse into City Creek under the bridge and when taken out was found to have sustained a severe scalp wound, his right leg badly mashed and his left shoulder, it is thought, thrown out of place.  The horses were also badly bruised as a result of the accident, while the wagon was made into kindling wood. 
    Young Hepworth, who is an orphan, was conveyed to the resident of his uncle,[my great grand parents home] No. 757 West 
First North street, where he received attention from Dr. Pinkerton. At last accounts he was doing as well as could reasonably be expected. 
    John Bentrod, proprietor of a saloon, was an eye witness of the accident.  He declares that the man in charge of the gates at the place where the accident occurred, deliberately closed them on Hepworth, the  team and wagon, closing them in and preventing them getting out.  
   Bentrod further said it was nothing short of a miracle that Hepworth wasn't killed outright.  

Salt Lake Herald  19 October 1900

YOUNG TEAMSTER'S MIRACULOUS                           

ESCAPE FROM FRIGHTFUL DEATH   

                       __________________________________________

   Roy Hepworth, a 19-year-old boy, in the employ of the Hepworth Meat company as deliveryman, had a narrow escape from being crushed by an incoming Short Line train at the North Temple street crossing, near Fourth West, about 9 o'clock yesterday morning. 

   The young man, unable to see the approaching train on account of some intervening cars, and not hearing the warnings of the watchman, drove his team onto the track in front of the engine before he discovered his danger.  He attempted to turn off the track, but the engine struck the wagon, throwing it and the team and driver ten or twelve feet into the rocky bottom of the City Creek aqueduct.  Hepworth was badly cut and bruised, but is not dangerously injured. 

   An employee of the railroad who happened to be near when the accident occurred, ran to Hepworth and found him unconscious.  The boy was taken to the home of his uncle, James Hepworth, 757 West First North street, Dr. Pinkerton being called.  He said Hepworth was not dangerously injured.

   Hepworth and his relatives blame the railroad company for the accident, but several eye-witnesses say that it was not due to any negligence on the part of the company.  Hepworth says that the guard gates were up when he drove in, but they were put down immediately afterwards.  He declares that he did not hear any warning from the tower man until he was already on the track.  He said he could not see the train on account of a line of cars in front of him. 

   The tower man, John Carlson, says that Hepworth drove under the gates as he was putting them down, and that he yelled and motioned at the boy to stop, but the latter failed to do so. 

On the same day  19 October 1900 in the Ogden Paper this was reported.

Ogden Examiner 

MIRACULOUS ESCAPE  

   That Roy Hepworth, aged 19 years, is not now a corpse is almost a miracle.  While driving a delivery wagon of Hepworth & Sons, the butchers, yesterday morning, at about 8:30 o'clock, he attempted to cross the tracks of the Oregon Sort Line at the intersection of North Temple and Fourth West streets, when his wagon was struck by a train coming in from the north, and the young man was thrown out into the ditch.  Several people who were near at hand ran to assist Hepworth, and when he was taken out of the aqueduct it was discovered that he had several severe wounds about the head and shoulders and other parts of his body were cut, or lacerated.  He remained conscious, however, and as he is of a very strong constitution it is believed he will be all right again in a very short time.  The wagon was badly damaged and the horses were considerably bruised.  

From these three articles this is what I learned about Samuel LeRoy:

1) He went by the name 'Roy'.

2) He was nineteen years old in 1900.
3) He was a orphan 

4) He worked for Hepworth & Sons

5) Relationship to James Hepworth (Nephew)

6) He was of a 'strong constitution' (and I think he was.)

Newspaper search is laborious and I love it.  There is so much you can find about ancestors through the newspaper. There are: 

1. Birth Announcements  
2. Wedding announcements
3. Death notices and obituaries.
4. News stories
5. Legal 
6. Advertisments    (I found in an Insurance  Advertisement in 1872 where $3000.00 was left to his wife when he died: Charles Kidgell to Sarah Ann Cashmore Kidgell) and the list goes on. 
    Renée

Sam and Mary Jane Hepworth died at age forty five.

 Samuel Hepworth died just two years after his father Thomas died  at an early age of forty five.  His daughter Hettie had been married one year and LeRoy Samuel was seventeen years old.
I really like the article in the newspaper.  For someone doing Family Search it leaves no question of what he died of and the circumstances of his death.
  Then two years later almost to the day Mary Jane his wife of thirty four years died of Brights Disease or  Kidney Disease. She was forty five.  I couldn't find a notice in the paper about Many Jane death.  Both are buried in the .Salt lake Cemetery next to their two young daughters.

Mary Jane Powell Hepworth   b 21 Oct 1854 - d 30 May 1900

I feel such a closeness to this couple.
My Grandmother Ethel was about eleven and thirteen at the time of their deaths. Uncle Sam and Aunt Mary Jane lived next door.  I'm sure they shared many a holiday dinner together.

Renée

Pictures of Children of Samuel and Mary Jane Hepworth

I have many pictures of this family given to me by a third cousin Leroy.   Samuel and Mary Jane are his great grandparents.  Connecting with a cousin and sharing ancestor pictures and life histories is the highlight in doing Family Search.  Thank you Lee.

The top picture is father Samuel Hepworth and his only son Samuel LeRoy Hepworth the third child born on 10 July 1881.  Notice little Sam's serious face. The next picture is Samuel LeRoy with his younger sister Rilla.  Rilla is a nickname for Aurelia who was born two years after LeRoy on 25 June 1883. The bottom picture of the sweetest faces are sisters Ella born 29 April 1877 and her older sister Hettie Irene born 21 December 1885.  All were born in Salt Lake City and lived in a house located next to their grandparents Thomas and Mary Hepworth at 739 W 200 N.  Today the address is 739 W 100 N. 

 Ella the second daughter died just before she turned eight years old.  Just today I found her death record in the Utah Death Register, 1847-1966 on Ancestry.com.  The record stated she died from Diphtheria.   Her older sister Hettie would be almost ten, Samuel LeRoy was almost four and sister Rilla was not quite two.  

Then almost five years later little Rilla died of Spinal Meningitis on 3 January 1890. Also, found today in the 
Utah Death Register/Ancestry.com. 

Sister Hettie just turned fourteen and Samuel LeRoy was eight years old. 

Was she sick during Christmas? Or was this a sudden sickness for Rilla? 

What heartache this must have been for the Hepworth family. 

Renée

Samuel Hepworth and Mary Jane Powell Married in 1874

The question is; how did this couple meet?  I would love to know the answer. Not just this couple but, all my ancestors.  . 

This is Samuel Hepworth, the second child and first son born to Thomas and Mary Hepworth.  Sam was the one born on the Mormon Trial at Wood River Nebraska. (There are records that put his place of birth as  Pottawatomie Council Bluffs, Iowa)  It is true that the wagon train stopped at Wood River for Mary to give birth, then within a few hours the wagon train continued on their journey.  It was 3 July 1852. He became a butcher; one of the sons of his father's business Thomas Hepworth and Sons  butcher shop. 

Mary Jane Powell was born in St. Louis, Missouri to John Powell Jr. and Margaret Thomas.  John and Margaret were born in Llanelly, Carmarthinshire Wales.  They were married in Wales and four of their eight children were born there.  The family joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on 23 July 1847.  On 17 October 1850 (163 Years ago this month) the family sailed on the ship Joseph Badger  for America.  "They arrived in New Orleans 22 Nov. 1850 and on the way up the Mississippi River the father took sick with Malaria Fever.  When he regained his health his means were exhausted and he went to work in a coal mine."  (From the History of John Powell and Family by Margaret S.P. Davis, daughter 25 Sep 1932 via Leroy Brown)

Eleven years after coming to America living in St. Louis, Missouri and Genoa, Nebraska the Powell family crossed the plains in 1861.  Mary Jane was six years old.  Her family came with with the Job Pingree Co.   and arrived in Salt Lake City on 15 Sep 1861.  Her parents settled in St Johns,Utah.

Sam was twenty two years old and Mary Jane was twenty when they were married in Salt Lake on 30 Nov. 1874.    Sam and Mary Jane were the parents of four children.  Only two lived to adulthood.  Their second child Ella died just before she turned eight years old.  Their fourth child Aurelia died at age six. Their first child was Hettie Irene born 21 Dec 1875 and their third child Samuel LeRoy was born 10 July 1881.    More on this family will continue.   

Renee

Gypsy Kidnapping (Maybe)/Listening to the Spirit

   Earl and I are back from our trip to Europe.  Countries we visited were; Turkey, Romania, Hungry, Austria and Czech Republic.  This was a seventeen day tour which was a stretch for us.  Usually on the tenth day of a vacation we are ready to come home.  However, we endured well.  Eighty three people made up our tour group of two bus loads. We had wonderful tour guides that helped make our trip well worthwhile. And of course we met some very interesting people. 
   I am going to make an exception on my blog and write a story about me that I think is worth writing about. (Being, my blog is almost always about deceased people)
  While in Romania our bus went passed a Gypsy settlement on our way to the Hunedoara Castle in the Transylvania Alps. This is one of the houses we saw.  In fact the whole settlement was house after house (huge houses) similar to this one, only different colors.  It was

  

explained to us by our Romanian guide that Romanians aren't very fond of gypsies   The village we passed there was a creek that separated the Romanian
 Village from the Gypsy Village.  Gypsies earn money from the craft of doing tin work like what you see that adorns this house and by illegal means. No more said.    

       I remember dressing up like a gypsy for Halloween when I was very young.  I loved the vivid colors, the full skirt and blouse and would tie a scarf on my head with the knot at the nap of my neck. My mom would let me wear red lipstick and for earrings I wore gold mason jar rings from my mother's canning jars and several of these rings on both arms for bracelets. Gypsy life seemed so exciting to me; traveling around the country in trailers that were covered with designs painted in every color and hue of the rainbow.    
  Then I remembered the day I was actually invited to come into a gypsy camp. 
   I was about nine or ten years old which would be about 1951 or 52 when the County Fair and Carnival was in town.  

The fair grounds was just a short distance from Lincoln School and I had planned to meet my dad after school and we were going to walk to the Fair/Carnival together.  Dad was Principal of the Jerome Jr. High that was across the street and a half a block to the south.  When I got to his office I found he was delayed with school business and it would be a while before he was free to go.  I coaxed him into letting me go by myself and I would meet him by the Ferris Wheel.
   I didn't enter the main gate to the carnival, I used the entrance where all the carnival people would make their temporary homes.  Just inside the gate and to my left was a Gypsy Camp.  But what caught my immediate attention was the most beautiful baby boy sitting in a high chair.  (I loved babies)  I stopped and stared and even took a few steps towards him. Their was no in the area around him then I saw several women in the background around their living quarters.  In a flash a young girl, probably in her teens, took the baby out of the high chair and put him in my arms.  I was surprised and didn't know what say.  Then in the next second two older women spoke to me saying "come In" and with a friendly motion of their hands motioned to me towards the tent.  I remember feeling instant fear and without saying a word I put the baby in the girls arms turned and quickly walked away wishing my dad was with me.  My dad was very calm when I told him what happened and of course said I did the right thing that I had listened to my protecting spirit the Holy Ghost.  
   Soon after, my Grandfather Perrins came to visit us as he often did.  Grandfather loved to tell stories and had many to tell and kept people entertained every where he went.  When I told him what had happened to me he listened carefully and was charmed with my story.   
"Did I tell you about my granddaughter, Renee?"  he would say to friends and relatives.  "The day she was almost kidnapped by the Gypsies?"  Of course grandfather had a knack of embellishing his stories and I'm sure his version was a lot more interesting than the one I told him. 
  Renee  

Katie and Mary Olsen sisters.

Just when I think I'm on a roll in posting, stuff comes up and 'Whispers from the Past' is put on the back burner.  And It will be awhile until the next post but, I wanted to to post these pictures  no matter how busy I am.  

SIDENOTE:  I am finding out that some members of my extended family think doing posts on ancestors of 'shirttail' lines are a waste of time.  Oh my.  I would like your opinion on this subject.  Do you enjoy reading about aunts, uncles, cousins or even in-laws?  I love it all.  And, I don't think is't a waste of time in gathering information on ALL.

How fortunate I feel to have the above pictures of these two sisters of when they are young and then in their  older years.  I don't have a written life history of either sister.

All I know is they are the only children of Sarah Julia Hepworth and Peter Olsen.   I do have information of who they married and how many children were born to them which I will post at a later date.  

Their father died at age of Fifty nine and their mother never married again.  She lived to the age of seventy four.

  

This is another picture of  Sarah Julia in her later years.   I don't have a date of when this picture was taken but, I'm guessing it was after 1908 when she would be about sixty.  What a nice looking lady, so pleasant and dignified.  

     Sarah Julia, if you read earlier posts on the Hepworth family,  was one year old when she crossed the plains with her parents Thomas and Mary and her Uncle John and Aunt Frances.  She is the oldest of the Hepworth's thirteen children.

Renèe

Peter Olsen and Sarah Julia Hepworth

     What a cute match.  Peter Olsen is twenty three and Sarah Julia is twenty one.  They were married on 23 December 1872 in the St. Marks Episcopal Church in Salt Lake City.
    Sarah Julia was born to Thomas Hepworth and Mary Fletcher in Liverpool, England on 6 March 1851.  She was one year old when she sailed the ocean and crossed the plains; arriving in The Salt Lake Territory in 1852.
   Peter was born on 26 December 1848 in Copenhagen Denmark.  His parents are Soren Christian Olsen and Maren Mortensen.
   I don't have much information on this family.  They had two girls Mary and Katie.
Peter died at the young age of fify nine in Los Angeles California on 29 April 1908 and is buried in Salt Lake City.   Sarah Julia died in Salt Lake City on 1 April 1924.

Renee