Top Five: Favorite Ancestors

Mostly ones that passed on before I came along. I have a fascination with ancestors that were among the first of their lines to join the church--four of the five here meet that criteria.

5. William Marks Miles, 1828-1897. Just six when his family joined the church in Freedom, NY. His father recently dead, he was bartending and figuring whether to go west with his family and the saints. Saw a dove flying west, took that as a sign, and the rest is history. I've wondered how he felt having his uncle William Marks' name. WM rose to prominence in the early church, was Nauvoo Stake President, but was against polygamy, didn't join the trek to the west, and during WMM's life, his uncle's name was a hiss and a byword in Utah. Third great grandfather, mother's side.

4. Abram Hatch, 1861-1957. I'm named for him (middle name), and remember meeting him just once, shortly before he died. Shrunken sick man in a bed, an unfortunate memory for such a vibrant man. His mother died when he was just eight, and he was raised by other relatives. A real cowboy, ran mail, killed a cougar that was leaping at him. Inactive and a smoker, he was a trail guide for a visiting mission president (Spencer W. Kimball's father Andrew) and was promised if he wanted it, he would lose all desire for tobacco. Most of his life after, he was a great contributor to the ward he lived in. Like WMM above, he helped settle Moreland, Idaho. Second great-grandfather, mother's side.

3. William Butler, 1825-1905. Left Ireland as a young man, some say under duress because of a debt. Found himself with some Mormons heading west and joined the church. Successful in life, had a fiery disposition that appears to have alienated many. His polygamous wife (our ancestor) Ellen Close Butler was attacked by a railroad worker in 1869 with an axe. William tracked down the man and killed him, thinking his wife was dead, then returned and gave her a blessing the next day that knit together her shattered head. Turned himself into the sherriff, who said go home, you've done nothing wrong. Different times. Third great-grandfather, mother's side.

2. Mary Ross Henderson, 1823-1896. Scottish, noted for her forthrightness. For example, she liked the spirit of the Mormon missionaries, but her husband Robert forbade her to be in the same room with them. So she and a friend went to their meetings and stood outside an open window. She and Robert joined the church, and came west in 1863. Some men in their wagon train didn't want to follow the wagon leaders's admonition to cross the river once more that day, so she tied up her skirts and led their wagon across. The shamefaced men followed suit. Late in life she read her first novel, and told her daughter "Ah Mary, 'tis better than the Bible!" Third great-grandmother, mother's side.



1. Richard Steele, 1818-1881. Joined the church as a young man in Stoke on Trent, England. Served a two year mission in England and Wales before emigrating to the US. Potter, farmer, proponent of literacy, tenor. I know him and love him best because he left a journal of the key years after he joined the LDS church. I'm still impressed with the time he met with his former Wesleyan Chapel minister and forthrightly defended Mormon doctrine. He told the man, "I was not going to believe him or anyone else before the word of God. For said I, I was for having God true though all men were found liars. Then said he, "You was not so bold when you was amongst the Wesleyans." Third great-grandfather, father's side.