 1900 - 1947 (47 years) Submit Photo / Document
Has 2 ancestors and 9 descendants in this family tree.
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| Name |
Orrin James |
| Birth |
24 Feb 1900 |
Colonia Díaz, Ascensión, Chihuahua, México  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Initiatory (LDS) |
10 Aug 1935 |
LOGAN |
| FamilySearch ID |
KWCR-FNV |
| Death |
3 Sep 1947 |
Gallup, McKinley, New Mexico, United States |
| Burial |
6 Sep 1947 |
Hillcrest Cemetery, Gallup, McKinley, New Mexico, United States |
| Headstones |
 Submit Headstone Photo |
| Person ID |
I162165 |
mytree |
| Last Modified |
25 Feb 2024 |
| Father |
Joseph Henry James, b. 22 Oct 1855, Ogden, Weber, Utah, United States d. 25 Apr 1908, Colonia Juárez, Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, México (Age 52 years) |
| Mother |
Orpha Amelia Rogers, b. 19 Feb 1861, Parowan, Iron, Utah, United States d. 14 Oct 1910, Colonia Dublán, Nuevo Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, México (Age 49 years) |
| Marriage |
12 Sep 1882 |
St. George, Washington, Utah, United States |
| Family ID |
F41225 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family |
Harriet Ann Whipple, b. 4 Dec 1905, Colonia Juárez, Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, México d. 22 Nov 1986, Hughson, Stanislaus, California, United States (Age 80 years) |
| Marriage |
20 Jan 1924 |
Colonia Díaz, Ascensión, Chihuahua, México |
| Divorce |
Yes, date unknown |
| Divorced |
Abt 1944 |
| Children |
| | 1. Joseph Jesse James, b. 16 Jul 1925, Morenci, Greenlee, Arizona, United States d. 24 Oct 1927 (Age 2 years) |
| + | 2. Margie James, b. 18 Jun 1927, Gallup, McKinley, New Mexico, United States d. 10 Jul 2011, Payson, Gila, Arizona, United States (Age 84 years) |
| | 3. Charles Wayne James, b. 25 Sep 1929, Gallup, McKinley, New Mexico, United States d. 25 Feb 1931 (Age 1 year) |
| + | 4. Bobby LaRee James, b. 24 May 1931, Albuquerque, Bernalillo, New Mexico, United States d. 24 Jul 1997, Del Rio, Val Verde, Texas, United States (Age 66 years) |
| | 5. Larry Kent James, b. 2 Jan 1933, Albuquerque, Bernalillo, New Mexico, United States d. 15 Jan 1933 (Age 0 years) |
| | 6. Harriet Ann James, b. 24 Nov 1934, Gallup, McKinley, New Mexico, United States d. 15 Feb 1935 (Age 0 years) |
| | 7. Wanda Marie James, b. 16 Mar 1937, Gallup, McKinley, New Mexico, United States d. 22 Apr 2014 (Age 77 years) |
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| Family ID |
F41200 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
5 May 2024 |
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| Event Map |
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 | Birth - 24 Feb 1900 - Colonia Díaz, Ascensión, Chihuahua, México |
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| Marriage - 20 Jan 1924 - Colonia Díaz, Ascensión, Chihuahua, México |
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 | Initiatory (LDS) - 10 Aug 1935 - LOGAN |
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 | Death - 3 Sep 1947 - Gallup, McKinley, New Mexico, United States |
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 | Burial - 6 Sep 1947 - Hillcrest Cemetery, Gallup, McKinley, New Mexico, United States |
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| Notes |
- A short life history of my grandfather, Orrin James
Orrin James was born in a time and place where much was in commotion. H i s father and grandfathers, both paternal and maternal, were Mormons wh o p racticed polygamy, and who had deep roots of faith. His mother share d th at same faith.
To understand the family Orrin was born into, one needs to look at the m e n and women he descended from. Orrin was born on February 24, 1900 in C ol onia Diaz, Chihuahua, Mexico. He was the son of Joseph Henry James an d O rpha Amelia Rogers. He was the grandson of Joseph James and Sarah Ho lyoa k, and Samuel Hollister Rogers, and Amanda Doolittle. All were indi vidua ls of great strength and faith.
Joseph Henry James was married first to Elizabeth Bloomfield and then t w o years later, he married her sister, Eliza. Later,while living in Mex ic o, he married Orpha. He had 14 children each with Elizabeth and Eliza , a nd 7 with Orpha. Orrin James was the youngest of Joseph and Orpha' s chil dren.
Joseph Henry used to gather his kids around him in the evening and sin g t he alphabet. Then the “five times” table was the chorus. He hired a t each er to teach school for them. When anyone acted up they were punishe d by s tanding with their nose against the black board. The ranch at Ho p Valle y was a beautiful place about four miles by six miles with trees , meadows , and flowers. All three of his families lived there in harmony . Elizabet h had an eight room home on one side of Hop Valley just abov e Hop Creek R iver. Eliza lived on the other side of Hop Valley on Willo w Creek and Orp ha lived in between. The kids went in and out of each o f their homes jus t like they did their own. Everyone all got along ver y well. Joseph wa s a loving father and was never mean to any of his 3 5 children .
With all of the James children, they had their own Sunday School at ho m e each week. They went into Pacheco for Sacrament meeting, and anyon e no t going to Sacrament meeting was not allowed to go to any other acti vitie s that week. Joseph was full of fun and worked to provide an envi ronmen t of faith for his family. This was the home and the family lif e that Or rin enjoyed in his early childhood.
With so many children, things were seldom done singularly. Such was t h e experience of Orrin's baptism. His half-sister, Ethel, first turne d 8 , then another of his half-sisters, Jenny, turned 8. But there was o ne m ore 8 year old to be: Orrin turned eight on February 24, 1908, an d tha t day all three of the children were baptized in the river. It wa s a joy ful occasion remembered fondly by the children .
Unfortunately, there were not many additional happy occasions to come wi t h their father. Just two months later, Joseph James was killed in a tr ag ic accident at his sawmill. Orrin was fatherless at the age of 8.
When the crisis struck, the widows of Joseph attempted to continue on wi t h their lives, lost and uncertain though they felt. Crisis in the Jame s f amily had not ended, however. A few years earlier, when he buried o ne o f his nine children in infancy, Joseph Henry had predicted to Orph a tha t within five years, they would both join her, and that he himsel f woul d go much earlier. Within two years, on October 14, 1910, Orpha A melia R ogers James, fulfilled Joseph's prediction when she also died. H er famil y was both fatherless and motherless. Orrin James was ten year s old.
It is assumed that Eliza stepped in at this point to help with the child r en of Joseph and Orpha, because later he relocated close to her famil y i n New Mexico, and his children knew and loved her as Aunt Eliza. Orri n i s listed as immigrating to the United States in 1912, which is when t he M exican government asked all the Saints to leave. Mexico was havin g a rev olution, and they were concerned the the Saints would choose to s ide agai nst them. He was twelve when he left his home in Mexico.
The departure from the Mexico was a harrowing experience. Sunday, July 3 0 , 1912, during Sacrament Meeting a rider came to talk to the Bishop. H e t old him that they all had to be packed and ready to leave at 6 o’cloc k th e next morning. They hurried home and worked all night washing and i ronin g clothes and packing and getting ready to leave. They had 45 mile s to g o by team and wagon through the mountains to catch the last trai n out, th at they could guarantee safe passage on .
They were loaded on the train like sardines in a can. Five hundred rebe l s come along the train with caps and fuses in their hands. The engine w ou ld leave the rest of the train and travel ahead to see if the tracks w er e okay. Then it would come back and pull the cars ahead and then leav e th e cars again to check the tracks and bridges. After they passed ove r eac h bridge, the rebels would blow it up behind them. This went on al l day ; it was late afternoon when they got to El Paso.
They were taken to a lumber yard where they stayed for 3 weeks. Finall y a fter 3 weeks they got word that they were to leave. They could not g o bac k to their homes. Thus Orrin, within four years, starting at age ei ght, h ad lost his father, his mother, and the only home he had ever know n. Jose ph's two remaining wives went in different directions, so even ma ny of th e half brothers and sisters who had been his best friends and co nstant pl aymates were suddenly no longer part of his life. That is a lo t of los s for such a young boy!
The next few years of Orrin's life are a mystery. He appears in Idah o i n the 1920 census, residing with his brother, Hollister James. Holli ste r was the oldest of Joseph Henry and Orpha's surviving children, an d ha d been 19 year old at his mother's death. It may be assumed that Hol liste r played a significant part in Orrin's care as he grew, although i t is ce rtain that Eliza had been the woman he looked to after his mother 's death .
Orrin registered for the draft in the state of Idaho. His draft card be a rs his clearly written signature, putting an end to questions about ho w h e spelled his name. (Census takers and others had written it a variet y o f ways, causing doubt for genealogists.)
Later, the Saints were allowed to return to their homes in Mexico, and m a ny of them did. Orrin was one who floated back and forth across the bor de r. Eliza had relocated to New Mexico when she left Mexico, and Orri n lat er spent much of his life in New Mexico, so it is likely that he ha d a cl ose relationship with Eliza and his half brothers and sisters ther e. Hi s children had fond memories of Aunt Eliza.
In 1924, Orrin married Harriet Ann Whipple, who had also returned to Mex i co, in the home of her sister and brother in law, Louise and Smith Skou se n. Orrin and Harriet made their home in Morenci, Arizona for a time , whe re Orrin worked as a miner. While he was working at the mine, thei r firs t child, a son, named Joseph after his beloved father, was born .
Later they moved to Gallup, New Mexico, where Orrin first worked at a Da i ry, and later for the LB Price Company. In Gallup Orrin and Harriet' s fi rst daughter, Margie, was born. Their joy was not allowed to linge r lon g however, as their 27 month old Joseph died just four months afte r Marg ie's birth. Two years later, a second son, Charles Wayne James, w as bor n to them. Charles Wayne also lived only a brief time, dying at t he ag e of 17 months.
Next another daughter, Bobby LaRee joined the family, being born in Albu q uerque in 1931. But sorrow had not yet parted ways with the family: i n J anuary of 1933, a third son, Charles Kent, was born, living just 13 d ays , and two years later, Harriet once again again birth to a beautifu l daug hter, Harriet Ann, who lived just under three months.
Again living in Gallup, Orrin and Harriet adopted their last child, a da u ghter, Wanda Marie in 1937. She was one day old.
During their times in Gallup, they had known both great joy and great st r uggle. For whatever reason, just seven years after they adopted Wanda , O rrin and Harriet were divorced. Orrin later lived with a woman, eith er a s her husband or as a common law husband, it is not certain which . The y had a daughter together, (Gloria) but even that child did not ha ve th e opportunity to be fully raised by Orrin James. Just three shor t year s after his divorce from Harriet, Orrin James was killed in a trag ic acci dent.
Starting about the age of 16, his daughter Margie had begun to have a te r rible, re-occurring nightmare. In this nightmare, she would be walkin g t he streets of Gallup, and a big white cross would begin to chase her . Sh e would run, frightened, and as she ran down a street, the cross wo uld fo llow her for blocks, eventually coming to rest at the side of th e stree t on a hill.
When she was twenty years old, he father was struck by a car, and drug t h ree blocks down the street in Gallup... that same street where the cro s s had chased her in her dreams. The car finally stopped at the same s po t that the cross had stopped in her nightmares. It was a tragedy fo r hi s daughters, to whom he had indeed been a beloved father, and to hi s man y grandchildren, who never had the chance to know him.
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Has 2 ancestors and 9 descendants in this family tree.
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