Happy Mothers Day to Grandma Chipman!
Saturday afternoon we headed down to Magrath to celebrate with the Chipman's.
We love going to Aunt Shawna's. The kids adore Erin and love to see her. As soon as we pulled up Kimmy jokingly goes "Erin your kids are here!" Erin, such a amazing young lady, is great with them and they love her in return. First thing this time Erin and the kids went off exploring the farm. Everyone arrived and we had a fantastic dinner with some amazing salads.
After dinner, well no, not after dinner, as soon as the kids ate enough to satisfy me they headed out to the Hot Tub. Justin and Miles headed out when they were done. As the kids were hanging in the hot tub Grandma had a surprise for all the Grandkids. She wrote down her stories (again) for us.
20+ years ago Grandma hand wrote, for each of her 4 children, a book with stories about her childhood, her kids and some of her ancestors. Everyone still has their book, but they are falling apart (at least ours is) and we don't all have access to them. A little while ago my cousin Derek called Grandma for her to retell him a story he wanted to use in a talk.... he sort of remembered it but needed the facts again. So Grandma decided it was time to do some gleaning... She went back through her family history and with the help of Erin (told you she was amazing) typed out the stories, Erin editing and turning them into a book with the help of Blurp. Grandma gave each Grandchild a copy.
I can't wait to read a few to the kids.
For now, here is the story of my Great Great Grandma Jane Anne Stuart written by Grandma Iris Chipman.
I wrote a paper on her when I was in Grade 6 or 7. I read her story often as a child!
Jane Ann Stuart
History Books are filled with stories of the suffering and hardships of the early converts to the church. My Great Grandma Jane Ann Stuart was one of them. Her life was filled with suffering and tragedy, but she had great courage and a strong will and great spirituality. She loved the Lord.
Jane's parents died when she was a very young child and she was raised by an old lady. We think it might have been her Grandma but we didn't know. This lady taught her how to knit beautiful shawls and clothes. When she was nine, the lady passed away and she was put out as a "home help". She was never part of the family but worked for her food and clothes.
When she was nineteen she heard the Mormon Missionaries and believed their message. Jane Ann was baptized, but when she got home all of her belongings were out on the porch, and she was told she could no longer live there. She found work as a companion to an older lady and began to save her money for Zion. A young man named Stephen Cornelius wanted to marry her. He said she could bring the children up in her new church, but he would not join himself. Although she loved him, she said no. The Gospel was too important to her. She borrowed money from the Church Emigration Fund, and sailed on the ship Thornton with the Willie Handcart Company. On the ship she took the bottle of some perfume Stephen had given her, wrote his and her name on it and threw it overboard. The past was behind her!
The journey of this company is one of the saddest in church history. When they went to pick up their handcarts they were not yet built. The only wood available was green. It took an additional 3 weeks to build and outfit the carts. The season for crossing was well advanced when the departed. They had trouble with the carts, many delays and hardships.
They stopped at Florence, Nebraska where Jane An met a woman who wanted her to stay and be her companion. The women's care and concern for Jane convinced her to stay. It felt so good to eat a real supper and sleep between two clean sheets. In the middle of the night she awoke with a start and knew instantly that she had made a terrible mistake. Getting up she dressed quickly and crept quietly out of the house. The handcart company had resumed their journey that afternoon. She followed their trail. Soon she heard wolves howling around her and she was very frightened. Praying for safety she ran on.
The men of the handcart company she belonged to did not know she had decided to stay, and they had spent the great part of the night going back on the trail to see if she had been hurt and left behind. At daylight she came into camp tired but overjoyed to be with the Saints again.
The rest of the journey was even more difficult as they lost most of their food supply in a buffalo stampede. With very little strength left they were caught in a horrible blizzard and camped on the Sweet Water River. It was there the relief party from Salt Lake found them. They still had to climb Rocky Ridge in a terrible blizzard. That night 15 people died. When they finally reached Salt Lake, Jane Ann's feet were frozen and swollen, she had lost her hearing from ear infections and was very weak.
The Prophet Brigham Young called Ira Stearns into his office and asked him to marry Jane Ann and take care of her. He had been married to his second wife and had a number of children with her, but he said 'Yes' to the Prophet. They were married in his office, and later went to the Endowment House to receive their temple blessings. Jane Ann, with great courage and faith unshaken, went on the have a family of 3 children, and to support them and herself by selling her knitting and other things. Ira was often away on church business.
This is one of the many stories book. :)
After the kids got out of the Hot Tub Kalia and Annaliesse sang to Grandma with the Ukulele. It was... they are learning. Learning You are My Sunshine- I love these kids.
I love this family of mine. I wish my cousins all my best. See you again soon- July 01 will be here before we know it.
