Here's the Scoop on
John Burton Pears
As is my habit
lately, I like to work on Family History and indexing on Sundays. I
have been gathering a flood of information about my Italian ancestors
who came from Calitri, Italy, as there has been an active group of
descendants of people from Calitri and they have made many records
available on the internet. Let me tell you, that group is immensely
helpful and it is ten times easier to check those resources than to
go slogging through miles of microfilm at the downtown library after
waiting over a day for them to retrieve the obscure microfilms (in
Italian, mind you) from the Granite Mountain vault!
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| Historical Site: Martin's Cove, Wyoming |
This past
Sunday, I decided to take a break from Italian records and I randomly
put in a search for some of my husband's relatives on the Family
Search website. It was completely random, as I just scrolled through
the name list on my Ancestral Quest program and picked a name out to
search. Bingo! I found more information about a person whose name has
been in my data base, almost from the beginning, and I had no idea
what I would find. In our records we had this: "John Burton
Pears, son of John Pears and Margaret Burton, born in York, England
1798, and died crossing the plains in 1856". Don't ask my why,
with my curious nature, or with any one of several other relatives
hunting about for clues or taking Genealogy classes at BYU, we never
put two and two together about how this man died crossing the plains.
Well, for your
information John Burton Pears is the (4th) Great Uncle to
my husband, (and all his brothers and sisters). John was the younger
brother of direct line ancestor Mary Pears (1795). (For those who are
trying to figure it out in their heads, start with Sara Cecilia
Smith, mother of Grandma Alice, and go back from there.)
As I have
tried to find out more about this man and his life, I have discovered
there is little information that exists about him personally, I guess
he wasn't a journal keeper. So, if you want to learn about him and
his family, try to read other information about the Martin Handcart
Company, and about converts crossing the ocean from Liverpool to New
Orleans in 1849. He traveled from England to New Orleans, from 2
Sept 1849 to 22 Oct 1849 on the ship James Pennell. Maybe you
could even take a side trip to Devil's Gate, Wyoming, because that is
where he was buried.
A
Tragic Pioneer Story
Most of you
reading may already know about the tragic story of these pioneers.
They left Missouri in late August of 1856. They were in a hurry to
start their trip west, so they hastily constructed handcarts to take
with them. Many of these people were poor immigrants, (they could not
afford a wagon and team), and they were converts to the LDS Church.
They had left their homes in England to settle in the USA with the
other saints. Leaving in late August was not the best idea, Rocky
Mountain winter weather got the better of them and they were not well
prepared as their handcarts only allowed limited food, supplies, and
belongings to be brought with them. Their handcarts were also quickly
made with green wood that did not hold up well to the rigors of the
journey. They suffered physically and mentally; deprivation,
starvation, freezing cold, and those horrible Wyoming winter winds
that are famous for overturning semi-trucks on Route 80. About one
quarter of the Martin Handcart Company paid with their lives. They
were prepared to give their lives for their faith and many of them
ultimately did just that. As soon as the people in SLC heard of
their plight, from some other travelers, rescue parties were sent out
to aid and retrieve these unlucky pioneers. If they survived, many of
the party suffered from frost bite and had to have feet and toes
amputated, as well as losing many of their family members and friends
to exposure and sickness.
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| Devil's Gate, Wyoming |
Recap:
John Burton Pears born 10 Sept 1798, Bishop Hill, York, England- Son
of John Pears and Margaret Burton (one of 8 children, the oldest son
and second oldest child). Brother of Mary Pears (1795), direct line
ancestor. He married Rosehannah Whitehead in England (1822). Five
children are recorded for John Burton and Rosehannah in Family Tree
at the Family Search website, the couples first three children died
in infancy, the last two, both daughters, made it to Utah. John
Burton, his wife Rosehannah, and youngest daughter, Eliza, were all
part of the Martin Handcart Company. Eliza, married Nicholas Summers
and lived in Uintah, Weber, Utah. Margaret (the other daughter not
listed as a member of the Martin Handcart Company, married George
Denton and lived in Toole, Utah.
More resources for
those who are interested:
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