William Jenkins (1848 - 1920): Our Family History

1848 - 1920 (71 years) Has 6 ancestors and 90 descendants in this family tree.

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Name	William Jenkins
Birth	7 Oct 1848	Llanelly, Carmarthenshire, Wales
Gender	Male
Initiatory (LDS)	1 Feb 1869	EHOUS
FamilySearch ID	KWNV-YMG
Death	5 Feb 1920	Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States
Burial	8 Feb 1920	Pleasant Green Cemetery, Salt Lake, Utah, United States
Headstones	Submit Headstone Photo
Headstones	Submit Headstone Photo
Person ID	I124	mytree
Last Modified	25 Feb 2024

Father	James Jenkins, b. 24 Oct 1817, Lampeter, Cardiganshire, Wales d. 6 Mar 1904, West Jordan, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 86 years)
Mother	Elizabeth Davis, b. 1815, Aberdare, Glamorganshire, Wales d. 8 Nov 1881, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 66 years)
Family ID	F126	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Family Fanny Hirst, b. 10 May 1852, Slaithwaite, Yorkshire, England d. 28 Aug 1926, Pleasant Green, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 74 years)

Marriage 20 Dec 1860 Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States

Children

+	1. John William Jenkin, b. 13 Dec 1870, Pleasant Green, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 25 Aug 1946, Pleasant Green, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 75 years)
	2. Hannah Elizabeth Jenkins, b. 1 Jan 1873, Brighton, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 30 Oct 1878, Brighton, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 5 years)
+	3. Sarah Jane Jenkins, b. 1 Apr 1875, Pleasant Green, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 20 Jun 1929, Sandy, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 54 years)
	4. Fanny Grace Jenkins, b. 26 Aug 1877, Brighton, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 29 Oct 1878, Brighton, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 1 year)
+	5. James Hirst Jenkins, b. 30 Jun 1880, Pleasant Green, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 31 Dec 1973, Pleasant Green, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 93 years)
>	6. Annetta Eve Jenkins, b. 5 Dec 1882, Pleasant Green, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 14 May 1972, Pleasant Green, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 89 years)
+	7. Mary Charlotte Jenkins, b. 9 Jul 1885, Pleasant Green, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 13 Sep 1965, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 80 years)
+	8. Henry Alonzo Jenkins, b. 23 Aug 1887, Pleasant Green, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 6 Aug 1953, Pleasant Green, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 65 years)
+	9. Amos Brook Jenkins, b. 16 Nov 1889, Pleasant Green, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 30 Sep 1959, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 69 years)
	10. Thaddeus Jenkins, b. 25 Dec 1892, Pleasant Green, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 20 Sep 1893, Pleasant Green, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 0 years)
	11. Annie Jenkins, b. 18 Jul 1894, Pleasant Green, Salt Lake, Utah, United States d. 22 Jul 1894, Pleasant Green, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 0 years)

Family ID F125 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Last Modified 6 Mar 2025

Event Map

	Birth - 7 Oct 1848 - Llanelly, Carmarthenshire, Wales
	Marriage - 20 Dec 1860 - Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States
	Initiatory (LDS) - 1 Feb 1869 - EHOUS
	Death - 5 Feb 1920 - Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States
	Burial - 8 Feb 1920 - Pleasant Green Cemetery, Salt Lake, Utah, United States

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Notes

William Jenkins was born on October 7, 1848 in Cavencaiau, Llanelly, C a r m arthen, Wales. He was the son of James
and Elizabeth Jenkins. He was a Mormon pioneer. He arrived in Sal t L a k e City, Utah in October 1854. He was a
member of the Dorr P. Curtis Company. He married Fanny Hirst on Dece m b e r 20, 1869 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
She was the daughter of John Hirst and Charlotte Brook of Yorkshire, E n g l and. She also came with her parents
as a Mormon pioneer. Her family was in the Hans Jensen Hals Compan y . T h ey had eleven children. William Jenkins
was a member of the 8th quorum seventies, a high priest, a mission a r y t o Indiana 1896-97, a hometeacher, the President of the Y.M.M.I.A . , H is p rofession was a farmer and stockraiser. He died on February 5 , 1 92 0 in S alt Lake
City, Utah.

William JENKINS & Fanny HIRST
Mormon Pioneers
Based on an essay by daughter Mary Charlotte Jenkins Smith 1952
Revised by Julie Robinson Smith 2009

William Jenkins was born 7 October 1848 in Cavencaiau, Llane l l y , Wales, the third Child of James JENKINS and Elizabeth DAVIS. Fait h f u l missionaries brought the restored gospel message to William’s par en t s w ho received the invie baptized and accept membership in th e C h urc h of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Jenkins family stron gl y d es ired to gather with other Saints in America so they made prepara t ion s t o emigrate. William set out, with his brother John and Sister M ar y , unde r the protection of their parents on board the ship “Golconda ” f r om Liver pool England. Williams’s mother was very ill during the en ti r e long, dif ficult trip which would have made traveling very much mo r e pe rilous fo r a little Child of six year-old. The Jenkins arrived i n N ew O rleans an d then joined the Dorr P Curtis Company* in order to c ros s th e plains, sh aring a wagon with the Morgan Richards family. Al l arri ve d safely at Gre at Salt Lake Valley in the fall of 1854.
The first winter in this new place, the Jenkins family li v e d i n a one-room cabin with another family until they could build the i r o w n cabin west of the Jordan River. William witnessed the cricket s de str oy ing their crops andf the seagulls that came to devou r th e c rickets- a sight which greatly stirred his soul and etched itsel f o n his v ery im pressionable young mind-never to be forgotten.
William married seventeen year-old Fanny HIRST, the ninth daug h t e r of John HIRST and Charlotte BROOK born in Slarthwaite,Yorkshire, E n g l and 10 May 1852. The couple exchanged the sacred vows of matrimo n y i n th e Salt Lake Endowmen 20 December 1869. Apostle Daniel H. We l l s performed the ceremony.
Fanny had been taught the gospel by her parents who had joined the Ch u r c h of Jesus Christ in England before Fanny was born. Fanny had thirt e e n s iblings and since the entire family wished to emigrate to Zion to ge th er, it took sixteen years to save enough money for the journey. Dur i n g tha t time of saving and dreaming, Fanny experienced persecution fr o m s choo l associates and neighbors. The mistreatment and resentment w a s int ensif ied by the fact that Fanny’s father was also the Branch Pre si dent a nd a m issionary working in England. To try to pacify the antag oni stic s pirit o f her community for a season, (as the family continue d t o work an d save d for escape from the hands of those that would mist rea t them), Fa nny an d her sisters attended the Baptist Church at the s am e time worshi p servic es were held in her home. She also worked in th e c otton mills i n order t o contribute to the Hirst's travel fund. Fina ll y at the tende r age of fo urteen her family had made preparations suf fic ient such tha t she and the y boarded the ship “Emerald Isle” in Live rpoo l, bound for A merica on 20 J une 1868!
The voyage to America was incredibly difficult. The tain t ed dr i nking water, (which was shared by eight-hundred seventy-six passe ng er s) , coupled with terrific storms resulted in disease and misery spre ad i n g rampantly throue ship causing at least one death al mos t every oth er d ay during the journey, totally thirty-seven by voyage’ s en d! Fann y dran k water only after her mother boiled it and this extr a prec autio n likel y saved her life. Miraculously no one in her family b ecame i l l and he r older married sister Nancy gave birth to an adorable l ittle g i rl whil e mid-ocean named “Emerald”! They arrived in New York Ha rbor 1 1 A ugus t 1868. Fanny’s family joined the Holman Company in Fort Bo nto n afte r t raveling there by train 25 August 1868 and then crossed th e w ide plai n s in ox-drawn wagons arriving at the long sought after desti n ation o f th e Salt Lake Valley in October. Many died along the trail , b ut agai n th e Hirst family was spared tragedy however Sarah (Fanny’ s youn ger si ster) did break her leg when she fell from their wagon an d was ru n over.
Fanny married William only twenty-two months after leavin g E ngl a nd. Her new life in the new world would now include a devoted a nd f a it hful husband. William brought his lovely bride home to a farm i n No r t h Point (what is no) and in their little adode hous e the hap py coup l e welcomed their first Child John William, christened f or his fat he r an d grandfather. In 1871 William homesteaded at Pleasan t Green alo n g wit h Fanny’s Father and other siblings. In their home in P leasant G reen, Fa nny and William were blessed with ten more children: Ha nnah Eli zabe t h 1 January 1873, Sarah Jane 1 April 1875, Fanny Grace 26 A ug 187 7, Ja me s Hirst 30 June 1880, Annette Eva 5 December 1882, Mary Cha rlot te 9 J ul y 1885, Amos Brook 16 November 1889, Thaddeus 25 December 18 92 , and A nni e 18 July 1894.
The Jenkins family met the many obstacles they encountere d w hi l e pioneering Pleasant Green with patience and faith. The land wa s fi l le d with rocks, endless sagebrush, and many rattlesnakes; addition a l l y a scarcity of water crardships and ultimately forced Wi lli am t o lea ve his farm in order to survive. He began a circuit of labo r t o s uppor t his family-to start William would take a wagon to Coons Can yon , wher e with a hand-axe he would chop down trees and haul a load of t h e m to S alt Lake with his ox-team. There he sold his load of wood fo r t h e smal l sum and $3.00. It took three or four days for the rough tr ip a n d wa s back-breaking labor. William next worked at the Jeremy an d Ree d Sa l t Works. He took his pay in salt, hauled it to Provo and sol d it t here . He finally fished in the Utah Lake and would haul back a wa gon lo a d o f Bass and Trout to sell at home in Pleasant Green to the se ttler s th ere, again putting in days of labor and travel for a mere subs istenc e-ty pe l iving.
When water was finally brought through the Valley t h e Jenki n s family could then resort to general farming as a means of pro vi din g f or their needs. They raised vegetables and grains as well as ot h e r cas h crops that sustd all in that vicinity. The i r seventh Child re minisced , “I remember the farm only when I think it w a s beautiful, wit h flowers , all kinds of berries and fruit trees.” Th e Je nkins lived i n a cozy ad obe house and in 1894 William and his brothe r Joh n partnere d with Sam S pencer and the three together bought a molass es mil l and b egan operatin g it to continue their prosperity. Daughter M ary rec alls , “There wa s a large vat to boil it (the molasses) in. The y wanted s ag e brush burn ed under the vat. They said it gave the molasse s a much b e tter flavor . I remember the children around bringing brass b uckets t o ge t the skim mings to make candy, a rare treat for us in thos e days.”
Fanny raised seven of her children to adulthood and experience gre a t j o y through them. She also drank deeply of the bitter cup of extre m e gr ie f at the loss of her beloved little ones. Young Hannah died dur i n g a who pping cough epidemic at the age of six along with her tiny on e- ye ar old s ister Fanny. Thaddeus and Annie also were prematurely buri e d be fore th e age of eight and were missed sorely. The knowledge tha t th es e beautifu l darlings would be restored to Fanny at a bright an d glori ou s future da y brought incredible comfort to all the family, es peciall y Fa nny.
Fanny worked the farm with the support of her children while William s e r v ed a mission in Indiana during the years of 1896 and 1897. Willia m a l s o was a member of the eighth Quorum of Seventy, an ordained Hig h Prie s t, a block teacher, and President of the Youth Organization call ed th e Y ou ng Men’s Mutual Improvement Association (YMMIA). He addition ally s erv e d for many years as an ordained Temple Worker in the Salt La ke Cit y Tem pl e.
William and Fanny moved to Salt Lake City settling in th e F ifte e nth Ward. They stayed there four years. Then the couple purchas e d a h om e (just across the street from the Harold B Lee Hall Gymnasium) i n th e T wenty-fifth Wardr State in the Poplar Grove are a o n the Westside o f th e city just within walking distance of the Temple; wh ere they spen t th e remaining years of their lives.
After months of anxiously waiting and looking forward wi t h ant i cipation to the milestone of their Golden Wedding Anniversary, Wi ll i a m and Fanny were invited into the home of their daughter Mary Charl o t t e for a gala party!n an easy stroll-just a few house s a way-from h er p arents and there on 20 December 1919, family and friend s ga there d to ho nor William and Fanny celebrating with them the honorabl e li f e the tw o enjoyed together. This affair was a bright event for al l in vol ved an d thereafter, just six weeks later, William died from compl ic ation s du e to pneumonia on 6 February 1920. Fanny moved in with fami l y in Pl eas ant Green and peacefully passed away there six years after W i lliam. B ot h found their final resting places side-by-side in the ol d Pl easant Gr e en Cemetery, in Magna, Utah.

(Note: The volume Pioneer Women of Faith and Fortitude pg 45 state s t h a t the Jenkins family crossed the plains in the William Empey Comp any . Co ntrarily the volume Pioneers & Prominent Men records that the Ja m e s Jenki ns family came to Utah with the Dorr P. Curtis Company in Oct ob e r 1854, a s does daughter Mary’s article written for the Daughters o f t h e Utah Pion eers 1952.)