Pioneer Day

For Pioneer Day, Jonathan and I visited Little Cottonwood Canyon to see where my great-great grandpa William McMillan spent some of his time.

He worked on a canal that was going to move the large blocks of stone for the Salt Lake temple from the canyon down to Salt Lake City. It ended up not working out though.

We walked around the old quarry and it was amazing to think that the trees and mountains haven't changed too much from what grandpa saw when he was there. I love feeling a connection with my ancestors. They had to face challenges that they weren't sure if they could conquer just like me. They overcame their challenges and I take strength that I can too.

McMillan Family Reunion

On the first Sunday in August, Jonathan and I were able to go to the McMillan family reunion in Rexburg. We went to Sacrament Meeting with Chris's family before going up to the reunion. Ruby stood with her head on Jonathan's leg for about five minutes. She is the sweetest little girl!

Our next stop was the Burton Cemetery to find where more of my Machen relatives are buried. The first Machen's I found were ones that I knew. My great-great grandparents! I feel so blessed to know more about them than just their names.

Then we finally made it up to the reunion. It was great to meet more of my Machen and McMillan cousins. I love this picture of 11 of the 16 McMillan children. My great-grandma is Evalyn, their youngest child. I am grateful to be part of such a wonderful family.

Before we went back to Utah, Jonathan made paper airplanes with the kids. They made it clear that we were had been gone long enough.

I hope that we can go to the reunion again next year.

Patterson Family

Earlier this summer my grandpa came out to Utah for a visit. We went to my uncle's house to spend the evening with grandpa. I got to see a couple of old family pictures. I love old pictures because they add depth to my ancestors. They are more than a name on a pedigree chart.

The man in the hat and dark coat is my great-great grandpa Elmer Patterson.

If I remember correctly, these are Elmer's parent James and Maria Patterson.

I love my grandpa so much. He is one of my biggest supporters and he can't wait for me to be a smart scientist.

Tintic, Utah

Back in May, my parents came out for a visit. We went to Tintic (now Eureka) to visit where my mom's great-grandparents lived for two years. The town is partially abandoned because the local mines were shut down. 

We went through the Tintic Mining Museum and learned about the history of the town. My great-great grandpa McMillan learned about the mines here when he was working on the transcontinental railroad. Grandpa worked in the mine while Grandma ran a General Store.

They kept chickens, which was a valuable commodity to have in Utah at that time, and a bobcat started preying on them. Grandma decided to take action even though she was scared of the bobcat.

She killed the bobcat the next time it came into her yard. Some local Native Americans heard about it and had a powwow for Grandma.

One of the souvenirs I got was an old crucible like the ones in the picture above. There's still some metal residue on it.

The highlight of the trip for my dad was seeing an old house that was found on property that was owned by Porter Rockwell. No one's sure if Porter actually lived in the house, but it wouldn't be surprising if he did.

Joseph Machin

When my parents came out this summer, they brought a couple of binders filled with our family history. I went through them and photographed each page and now I'm typing all of the stories. It's not surprising that at some point many of my relatives were in Utah. As I read about where they were, I have been figuring out where they were and then we go visit those places.

Joseph and Sarah Machin  (he later changed the spelling to Machen) emigrated in 1869 and were able to take the train to Utah because of the completion of the transcontinental railroad.

Promontory Summit where the transcontinental railroad was completed.

They lived in Minersville for about a year or two after that. I'm assuming that he worked in the mine in the area. When he was living in England, he learned how to work in a smelter and he was probably working in a mine before that.

My favorite part of visiting the mine was looking out to the mountains. They haven't changed very much since my great-great grandparents were looking at those same mountains.

After a few more moves, they ended up in Sandy. There Joseph worked in the Mingo Smelter along with farming and other odd jobs. I found out that there is a plaque and a little mine car where the smelter used to be.

After working in the smelter for 15 years, the family moved up to Idaho for a brighter future for their children.

I am so grateful that my great-great aunt took the time to compile the stories and that I now have the opportunity to visit the same places that my ancestors once lived. There are still more places to find and I look forward to visiting them.

Promontory Summit

At the end of July, Jonathan and I went out to Promontory Summit (also known as the middle of nowhere) where the first Transcontinental Railroad was completed in May of 1869. I have been reading a lot about my Machen family history and my great-great grandparents took the train out to Utah when they emigrated just months after the railroad was completed.

They still have a little bit of railroad track for the replicas of the Central Pacific's Jupiter and the Union Pacific's No. 119. It was interesting to learn that the Jupiter is a wood burning engine while No. 119 is coal burning. Though it makes sense because the Jupiter was coming east from the forests of California while those coming west were struggling enough to find enough wood for the railroad ties.

I've grown up seeing the black and white photo of the two trains meeting, so I was very surprised to see how colorful they are in real life.

As we were leaving, we stumbled upon ATK Aerospace Systems. Jonathan and I both decided we should become rocket scientists so we can work there when we grow up.

It was amazing to see just how large the rocket booster that was used for the space shuttle is! I love all of the different adventures we are able to go on.

Elder Machen

I have been getting into my family history lately. It is fascinating learning who my ancestors are and their life experiences. One of my favorite things to learn about is my grandpa Machen's mission to Tahiti in the late 1930's. I haven't gotten my hands on his mission journal yet, but the stories I have read so far are wonderful.

This is one of my favorite stories:

"Then there was the time that Neal suddenly became very ill with an attack of kidney stones while he and his companion were laboring on one of the small islands. All of the members of the Church fasted and prayed with him and his companion until he was relieved of his pain and suffering. Those people had a child-like faith in the teachings of the gospel and their humility and sincerity were of lasting influence to the young men who had been sent to work with and teach them."

I can't wait until Jonathan and I have the opportunity to go and visit his mission. I think that there are many people there that still remember him because my grandparents served another mission in Tahiti in the 1980's and there were people that remembered my grandpa from his first mission.

It is such a blessing to me to have these wonderful memories to draw strength from as I face my own challenges. Our ancestors were real people that faced real challenges and we can still learn from them.

My People

These are my people. They are my ancestors that Jonathan and I have taken to the temple.

There are more I have to take and others that I've shared with my parents and siblings. They are very much alive and supporting me. I love the quote they are surrounding. It says "Suddenly all my ancestors are behind me. 'Be still' they say. 'Watch and listen you are the result of the love of thousands.'" My mom saw it and knew that I needed it. I won't let them be forgotten and in turn they are watching over me. Sure, they don't change what's going on in my life, but they are cheering me on. They don't forget me.

Founding Fathers

Since Saturday is Independence Day, I decided to share a few quotes from some of the Founding Fathers that are also my cousins!

Abraham Clark - My 12th cousin 11 times removed.

As to my Title, I know not yet whether it will be honourable or dishonourable, the issue of the War must Settle it. Perhaps our Congress will be Exalted on a high Gallows

- Abraham Clark

Joseph Hewes -  My 11th cousin 10 times removed.

Were I to suffer in the cause of American liberty, should I not be translated immediately to heaven as Enoch was of old?

- Joseph Hewes

Thomas McKean - My 10th cousin 17 times removed.

Our cause is good, our army in health and high spirits, and more numerous that that of the enemy. May the divine Disposer of all events crown our victuous endeavors with success and save our country; of this we may be confident, "for he delights in virtue, and that which he delights in must be happy."

- Thomas McKean

Charles Carroll - My 10th cousin 8 times removed.

Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure (and) which insures to the good eternal happiness, are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments.

- Charles Carroll

There are certain unalienable and fundamental rights, which informing the social compact, out to be explicitly ascertained and fixed - a free and enlightened people, in forming this compact, will not resign all their rights to those who govern, and they will fix limits to their legislators and rulers, which will soon be plainly seen by those who are governed, as well as by those who govern: and the latter will know they cannot be passed unperceived by the former, and without giving a general alarm.

- Richard Henry Lee

Roger Sherman - My 3rd cousin 9 times removed.

The only real security that you can have for all your important rights must be in the nature of your government. If you suffer any man to govern you who is not strongly interested in supporting your privileges, you will certainly lose them.

- Roger Sherman

These men recognized that they were part of something that was so much bigger than anything that had been attempted before. I love how Abraham Clark freely acknowledged that they didn't know if they would be successful or not, but that was not going to stop them. They knew that what they were doing was right and many saw the hand of the Lord throughout the formation of this independent nation. They also saw how these freedoms and rights could be taken from us. It is vital for us to educate ourselves on the candidates and remove them from office if necessary for limiting our freedoms. There is still so much we can learn from our Founding Fathers if we would take the time to study them.

If you want to find out what Founding Fathers you are related to go to www.relativefinder.org.
Here's some more patriotic thoughts for this Independence Day.

Memorial Day

This Memorial Day, Jonathan and I visited the cemeteries where some of our ancestors are buried. I remembered how whenever we would take flowers to my grandpa's grave, my mom would come prepared to clean off the grave marker and pick any weeds that were growing. I followed her example. I felt a little silly walking through the cemeteries with a roll of paper towels and water to clean with when most everyone else had flowers, but I was glad that I came prepared.

Our first stop was in Bountiful. We saw the markers for, Cyril Call, Anson Call, and Anson Vasco Call.

Not surprising, we ran into some very distant cousins of Jonathan's. She told us the story about how Anson Call met one of his wives. (Yes, he practiced polygamy and followed the correct process for having additional wives.) One of the handcart companies left to cross the plains a little late in the year. They ended up getting stranded in the snow before they got to Utah. Anson was on of the men that was sent to rescue them. Margaretta was so tired that she just wanted to lay down and sleep. He bundled her up and put her the back of his wagon. She was also very hungry because she ended up eating the feed for the animals. Mmm old, slightly rotten potatoes! Anson pulled her back out of the wagon and with the help of one of the other rescuers, they had her walk back and forth between the two of them so she would live.

We were also reminded that Jonathan's great-great-great-great grandpa served in the war of 1812. We will be sure to remember him on Veteran's Day from now on!

At the Salt Lake City Cemetery, we were able to find more of my ancestors. First we stopped off at James Davis' marker since I knew we could find it again. Someone already came by his marker and placed an American flag by his marker.

The next one we searched for was for William and Ellen (or Hellen) Bellamy. Thanks to the map of the cemetery, they were very easy to find! William Bellamy's marker was starting to be covered by grass, so Jonathan grabbed some tools from the car to dig out the roots and dirt.

 As I was researching, I found out that their daughter Sarah Ellen Bellamy married Joseph Machen on the ship as they were emigrating to America from England. I also found out the Ellen's maiden name is Redfern which is my great-grandpa's middle name.

It took a little bit longer, but we were also able to find John and Lurena Nebeker. We could tell that we were in the right area because there were quite a few other Nebekers around them! Now I just get to figure out how we are all related.

We also visited a few other markers before we left.

Hyrum Smith's memorial

President Heber J. Grant

President David O. McKay

President Gordon B. Hinckely

And my dad's favorite, Porter Rockwell!

Then we headed out to Magna to visit where Jonathan's great-grandma and great-aunt are buried. We were not prepared for how dusty this cemetery was, but we still did our best to clean their markers. This visit was much more emotional for Jonathan. He knew both of them and attended their funerals. 

I am so glad that we were able to take the time to visit our ancestors and to remember them.