Celebrating Memorial Day by Remembering Ralph Huntington Hepworth

Utah Military Records, 1861-1970 via Ancestry.com 

     Next Monday is Memorial Day, formerly known as Decoration Day.   This day originated after the Civil American War to ommemorate the fallen Union Soldiers of the Civil War.

By the twentieth century Memorial Day was extended to   honor all Americans who have died in all wars.

         This Memorial Day I am going to honor a cousin of Dad's,

Ralph Huntington Hepworth

He was lost at sea on 24 July 1945.

I found the above record very recently on Ancestry.com.  A record that was not available last year when I researched Ralph.   If I were searching for Ralph Hepworth for the first time, this record would yield some great information (but not perfect.)  

I will transcribe the information;

Ser. # 278412  Still MISSING  11-30-46     KILLED 

HEPWORTH, RALPH HUNTINGTON, Lt.  j.g.            NAVY

Born; April 30, 1921 (or 22) Salt Lake City (In Ut. 6 Yrs)

Father:  Charles Vern Hepworth  DECEASED (4-30-47)

Mother:  Mable Ann Duffy Hepworth,  1424 Harrison Ave. SLC  DECEASED

Single

Address:  Albion, Idaho

Aunt:  Mrs. Royal Daw, 464 E. 2nd So. 

       Enlisted:  5-1-42 Seattle, Wash.

*Awarded 4 bronze stars, purple heart - 1945

WOUNDED July 25 1945 OFF OKINAWA  (Let. 2-9-48)

MISSING IN ACTION SINCE A FLIGHT JULY 24, 1945 OFF COAST OF OKINAWA (Trib. 8-19-45)

ALONG WEST COAST OF KOREA (Let. 11-30-46)  Reported: 10-6-45

KILLED. BELIEVED SHOT DOWN ON SHIPPING PATROL MISSION FROM BASE AT OKINAWA. 

(LET. 6-24-47)   Reported 11-15-17)

This record verifies:

A full name - birth and place

Father and Mother's full name and they are deceased.

A relative's name and address.

And he enlisted on the very day I was born!

Wonderful information.

Pictures of Ralph and more information will be posted through the week. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Renee 

   

  

"We Packed Our Trunks and Journeyed To Zion"

A 'trunk' filled with artifacts were the centerpieces for
eleven tables.  Each one decorated, delightfully, different.

     Last Saturday, 5 May 2012 the Daughters of Utah Pioneers had their annual convention to the theme of "We Packed Our Trunks and Journeyed To Zion."  An event myself and six other members of the Benton Company Board have been planning for since the first of the year. 

      Let me explain what DUP is about. 

This is a society for decedents of Utah Pioneers that; came to, died en-route to, or was born in the Utah Territory/State of Deseret before 10 May 1869, the date of completion of the Railroad.    Pioneers include members of the LDS faith seeking religious freedom, and NON members of the LDS faith; members of the Mormon Battalion, Johnston's Army, workers on the railroad and trappers and hunters, anyone, with no regard of creed or ethnic background.    If a woman does not have 'Utah Pioneer Heritage' she may join as an associate member but, cannot hold an elective position.    (Big Woop)

     A DUP Company is comprised of DUP Camps.  In our Benton County Company we have seven camps a total of one hundred twenty three active members.  I have the privilege of being the Company President and have six very talented and supporting 'daughters' on my board for a two year term.  

    Our camps meets once a month from September through May.  Without going into every detail of our meetings;  we have historical lessons, ancestor histories, pioneer music, and patriotic themes.  It is nonsectarian and nonpolitical.    I joined DUP ten years ago.  It is my way of honoring my Pioneer Heritage.  To always remember the sacrifices they made. I feel they are a special kind of people who had a lot of faith, a lot of courage and fortitude to achieve impossible tasks.  I have learned so much about myself in my 'study' of each ancestor.  

To learn more about DUP here is the web site. International Daughter of Utah Pioneers

"Mary was given this beautiful dress at the dock in Wales by her Sister-in-Law, Sophia Davis."  

 On with the whole purpose of this post!  Above you see a beautiful green taffeta dress that belonged to Mary Rees born in 1840 at Argoed, Bedwelty, Monmouthshire, Wales.   One month after her marriage to Henry Hugh Harries on 15 March 1859 at age nineteen, Mary and Henry migrated to Zion, sailing on the ship William Topscott then crossing the plains with the Robert F. Nelson Company arriving in the Salt Lake Territory on 15 Sep 1859.  Mary brought this dress and many other dresses as well as material across the plains.  It is one hundred and fifty three years old and is still in wonderful shape.  Handmade, it is exquisite.  Today it is entrusted by Mary's decedent Ellen who lives in the Seattle area.  Ellen is a dear friend of our Vice President Trudy who did all of the arranging (many hours)  in bringing the dress to our convention to put on display.    Needless to say all enjoyed the annual convention.   

     Now to tie this to my own Utah Pioneer.   My third great-grandfather Charles Kidgell Sr. and his daughter and husband second great-aunt and uncle Caroline Kidgell and John Higson came on the same ship and crossed in the same company as Henry and Mary.     

I can assume they were very well acquainted with one another so long ago.

     

Wedding dress, early 1900's.

One more picture of another beautiful dress on display at our convention.      

     This is a beautiful wedding dress of a second great-grandmother of Charlene a member of our DUP Meadow Springs Camp.  It's over one hundred years old and again, in wonderful shape. 

     

     My Thanks to everyone in putting on this successful convention!

     Now that our home has been refurbished, a trip to Utah for a grand-daughter and grand-son-in-law college graduation and traveling to Idaho,then the DUP convention I hope to get back to a normal schedule which involves posting on a regular basis.   

  Thanks for stopping by. 

     

   

Woven Generations - FamilySearch Ancestral Research

Happy Easter 2012

Gary and Renee Tomlinson
Celebrating Easter
Jerome, Idaho
1945

How Grateful I am to have been born to parents who beleive in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

The Importance of Given Names.

 Apology to those who follow this blog.   I have been so remiss in posting on a regular basis. We are doing a full renovation on our townhouse and it is taking longer than we anticipated.   I want to give my full attention in preparing a post on the Hepworth line only to have my mind wonder to all that needs to be done.  

         Recently, I came across information concerning the English pattern in naming children which was very interestng.  I find the Hepworth line and the Kidgell line followed the pattern to some extent. 
The following article explains:   
THE IMPORTANCE OF GIVEN NAMES BY by Donna Przecha.
"Given names are [very] important because they represent a voluntary choice by the parents or, sometimes, by an individual.  A name is usually not given lightly. It represents thought and feelings and can be significant to the researcher.  
You will often see the same names used over and over again in families.  Donna continues.....While certain names are popular in different areas in different times in history, the repetition could represent a pattern.  Many cultures beleive in honoring their elders and do so by naming children after them. 
Naming Patterns of the English was popular in the 1700-1875.
     Example:

• The first son was named after the father's father
• The second son was named after the mother's father
• The third son was named after the father
• The fourth son was named after the Father's eldest brother
• The first daughter after the mother's mother
• The second daughter after the father's mother
• The third daughter after the mother
• The fourth daughter after the mother's eldest sister

     Second great-grand father Thomas Hepworth and Mary Fletcher's first son was named after Thomas's father Samuel as well as in the Kidgell line; the first son was named Charles.  Both the Hepworth's and Kidgell's named their first daughter after the mother's mother,  Sarah Julia Hepworth - Ellen Maria Kidgell.  Both families (Hepworth and Kidgell) had a pattern of family names that followed through for the next generation.   In my research of the Hepworth's and Kidgell's this name pattern was very handy at times in helping in identifying them however, there were times it could be confusing when a relative of the same surname in the same time frame used the same names.  

     If you are LDS and are familiar with the new.familysearch.org site;(you need an LDS membership number to be able to registrar on this site.) bringing up the Thomas Hepworth Family File is very frustrating  because their is so many erroneous dates; birth dates that are wrong and incorrect death dates, even names of parents that are not right and other spouses which I know beyond a doubt that Thomas was only married to Mary Fletcher.  This incorrect information is put there by other members who don't realize their Thomas Hepworth is not the same man as my guy.  This family file is really a mess.  For example someone has put in incorrect parents:

• Richard Hepworth/Hannah Wilkinson
• Richard Hepworth/Sarah Jackson

      

 Going back to the naming pattern; of all Thomas and Mary's thirteen children, not one is named Richard.   Nor is there a Richard in Thomas's brother John's family of eleven children.   

We are almost finished with the renovation.  Hopefully, I will be posting about the Hepworth's soon. 

Thanks for understanding. 

   

   

1940 Census coming soon!

     Yes, I am ready for the 1940 Census.  Well, maybe not ready but, excited about it.  I am going to volunteer to help in the indexing.
     For many years I spent researching my father's paternal line, a very interesting story which I cannot go into at this time.  My goal was to locate living descendants but, I came to a 'brick wall' (a genealogy term) two years ago and left that line with the thought that I will wait until the launching of the 1940 Census which I am very confident will help me to bring the  'brick wall' down.

                                                                                         
                                                                                     

Cari Lyn always a Team Player.

Someone you would want on your team.  It could be a team of Sports, Scholastic, or Spiritual.

You would want Cari on your side.  She ALWAYS gave it her all.  Love you always Cari.