My parents are converts. We don't have any pioneer ancestors ... or so I thought. Then I got a message from family search:
You have a pioneer ancestor whose sacrifice and legacy lives on. Discover and connect with that ancestor on a pioneer page created just for you.
I was curious. So I checked out Franklin Spencer:
Franklin's surname at birth was Perkins. He served as a Lieut. Colonel in the Confederate Army and was accused (falsely he says) of destroying a railroad bridge and thus causing the deaths of many Union soldiers. Under indictment, he changed his name to Franklin Spencer and fled west to Colorado. Here he encountered Mormon literature and in 1864 traveled to Utah with his wife Sarah Jane. Both of them converted to the faith.
I've never heard of him. How were we related? I checked out the link provided by family search. He was found on my mother's side. (go back 10 generation and down 6. He would have been a contemporary with Sarah Kellam - the one who gave me the doll cradle.) Who knew!
It reminds me of my nephew Matt Smith who was in a math class in college. He got along so well with another one of his classmates. He didn't learn until halfway through the year that they were actually second cousins! (His mom used to attend those reunions before he was born.)
Those same unknown cousins have valuable information about family lines that have departed from the main branch you focus on. Get in contact with them. I have found my own cousins very willing to share information and pictures about their families and descendants. You never know who you will find!
Want to learn more about the pioneers for the 24th of July. Check out this page produced by the Church History Library.
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