 1830 - 1914 (84 years) Submit Photo / Document
Has more than 100 ancestors and more than 100 descendants in this family tree.
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| Name |
Jennette Snedden |
| Birth |
24 Apr 1830 |
Gartsherrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland  |
| Christening |
16 May 1830 |
Old Monkland, Lanarkshire, Scotland |
| Gender |
Female |
| Initiatory (LDS) |
16 Nov 1867 |
EHOUS |
| FamilySearch ID |
KWJ4-PQ7 |
| Death |
28 Jul 1914 |
Meadow, Millard, Utah, United States |
| Burial |
30 Jul 1914 |
Meadow Cemetery, Millard, Utah, United States |
| Headstones |
 Submit Headstone Photo |
| Person ID |
I6455 |
mytree |
| Last Modified |
25 Feb 2024 |
| Father |
David Snedden, b. 23 Feb 1796, Polmont, Stirlingshire, Scotland |
| Mother |
Christenia Lyle Morris, b. 24 Feb 1793, Carriden, Linlithgowshire, Scotland |
| Marriage |
19 May 1821 |
Old Monkland, Lanarkshire, Scotland |
| Family ID |
F4280 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family |
James Duncan, b. 5 Feb 1828, Greenend, Lanarkshire, Scotland d. 11 Jan 1912, Meadow, Millard, Utah, United States (Age 83 years) |
| Marriage |
1850 |
St. Louis, Missouri, United States |
| Children |
| + | 1. Mary Jennett Duncan, b. 15 Apr 1854, Fillmore, Millard, Utah, United States d. 16 Dec 1942, Meadow, Millard, Utah, United States (Age 88 years) |
| + | 2. James Duncan, Jr, b. 26 Feb 1857, Fillmore, Millard, Utah, United States d. 11 Jul 1905, Clear Lake, Millard, Utah, United States (Age 48 years) |
| + | 3. David William Duncan, b. 4 Feb 1859, Meadow, Millard, Utah, United States d. 1 Aug 1906, Meadow, Millard, Utah, United States (Age 47 years) |
| + | 4. John Snedden Duncan, b. 7 Jan 1861, Meadow, Millard, Utah, United States d. 5 Jan 1949, La Verkin, Washington, Utah, United States (Age 87 years) |
| + | 5. Christina Duncan, b. 24 Mar 1863, Meadow, Millard, Utah, United States d. 4 Nov 1886, Holbrook, Navajo, Arizona, United States (Age 23 years) |
| + | 6. Elizabeth Emma Duncan, b. 8 Feb 1866, Meadow, Millard, Utah, United States d. 10 Apr 1950, Meadow, Millard, Utah, United States (Age 84 years) |
| | 7. Adam Duncan, b. 3 Feb 1868, Meadow, Millard, Utah, United States d. Mar 1868, Meadow, Millard, Utah, United States (Age 0 years) |
| + | 8. Richard Duncan, b. 8 Jan 1869, Meadow, Millard, Utah, United States d. 22 Oct 1931, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States (Age 62 years) |
| | 9. George Duncan, b. 27 Aug 1871, Meadow, Millard, Utah, United States d. 28 Aug 1871, Meadow, Millard, Utah, United States (Age 0 years) |
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| Family ID |
F3391 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
5 May 2024 |
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| Event Map |
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 | Birth - 24 Apr 1830 - Gartsherrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland |
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 | Christening - 16 May 1830 - Old Monkland, Lanarkshire, Scotland |
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 | Marriage - 1850 - St. Louis, Missouri, United States |
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 | Initiatory (LDS) - 16 Nov 1867 - EHOUS |
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 | Death - 28 Jul 1914 - Meadow, Millard, Utah, United States |
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 | Burial - 30 Jul 1914 - Meadow Cemetery, Millard, Utah, United States |
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| Notes |
- Pioneer
Unknown Companies (1847-1868) Age at departure: 25
James and his wife Janet came to Utah in either 1851 or 1852. Further re s earch is needed to narrow the year of their travel.
JENNET SNEDEN DUNCAN
(husband, James Duncan)
WRITTEN BY HER DAUGHTER ELIZABETH E. STEWART
MAY 23, 1942
Life of my mother, Jennet Sneden Duncan who was the daughter of David S n eden and Christeena Lyle. She was born in Gargel, Scotland, April 21, 1 83 0. She attended school in Scotland and had a very good education for t ha t time.
Her father was a coal miner and provided all their groceries in large q u antities. Mother was the wife of James Duncan and was the proud and hap p y mother of nine children; three girls and six boys. Mary Jennet, Jame s , David, John, Christeena, Elizabeth Emma, Adam, George, and Richard. A da m and George died in infancy. James, David, Christeena, and Richard al l l ived to man and womanhood but have passed beyond now .
Mother came to America in the dame ship with James Duncan who afterwar d s became my father. It was on the ship that she first met him. She le f t a sweetheart behind in Scotland but he never came to America.
When mother arrived in Pennsylvania she started to work for a lady by t h e name of Walker. It was here that mother and father’s courtship starte d . Mrs. Walker was good and kind to mother. She taught her how to cook a n d do general housework. Father would come real often to visit with moth er . Mrs. Walker was also very kind to him and told mother whenever he ca me , to find anything to eat that he wished to.
While mother was living with Mrs. Walker she learned to be a very excel l ent cook. She was still living here when she and father were married i n 1 851. They came to Utah in 1852 and first settled in a small town by t he n ame of Session.
Father worked here for a man named Anson Call. When the Legislature m e t in Fillmore, Anson Call had to come down and he brought father and mo th er with him. Father went back with him. Mother stayed in Fillmore unti l s he grew tired of staying alone and she started out to walk back to wh er e father was, carrying with her, a small bundle of clothes on her back .
It was now the later part of November and winter was setting in. When s h e got just north of Provo, it started to snow and was very cold. As sh e t rugged along through the cold, wet snow her clothes froze to her bod y . A man and woman came along in a covered wagon and she asked them to l e t her ride but the man said no and as the wagon passed her she grabbe d ho ld of a rod that was standing out on the back of the wagon. She hun g on t o this rod until she was worn out and almost frozen to death. Sh e droppe d in he snow and the woman saw here fall.
She coaxed her husband to help mother into the wagon. She was very go o d and kind to mother and helped her put dry clothes on. She had to pul l m other’s shoes and stockings off for her as they were frozen to her le gs a nd feet.
They left her near the point of the mountain with a family who had lo s t their mother. Their children were trying to prepare Thanksgiving dinn e r so mother stayed there a few days and helped them all she could. As s oo n as she felt stronger, she went on to father. They both worked for An so n Call and he gave father a yoke of oxen for his work and mother a co w fo r her work.
In 1853 father and mother went back to Fillmore. While they were livi n g here father worked in a flourmill for a man name Bartholomew. Mary a n d James were born in Fillmore. In 1857 they moved to Meadow and locat e d on what is known as the ridge, about one and one half miles west of t h e present location of Meadow. They lived under the ridge in a one-roo m lo g house. The dirt blew in the house so bad here mother just couldn’ t stan d it. So one day when father was out in the field working, mothe r pulle d the floor of the house up and carried it on top of the ridge an d leane d it against a fence. They lived in this place with the floorboar ds a she lter until father had time to bring the logs on top of the ridg e and buil d another. David was born while living here.
The water was very muddy and bad down here, as it ran through all the f i elds, so father decided to move to town. The rest of the family was al l b orn in Meadow. When they moved up to town they built a two-room adob e hou se on the north side of the lot where Daniel Duchnell now lives. La ter th ey moved up to the lot where Isaac now lives and made more adobe s and bui lt another house.
Father made a bed, table and stools for chairs. Mother cooked in a skil l et on the fireplace for a good many years. She had plain white curtain s t o her windows, which were made out of some of her clothes. When mothe r fi rst came to Utah she had lovely clothes and lots of nice quilts an d line n sheets. She cut her white petticoats up to make her baby clothe s and sh e also cut many of her other things up to make her older childre n’s cloth es. She made fathers best shirts out of her linen sheets .
By this time father had accumulated a few sheep and they would sent t h e wool from these sheep with a little grease to Provo and have it mad e in to rolls and many times they couldn’t afford to have the rolls mad e and m other would make them and she also has a spinning wheel and woul d then sp in these rolls of wool into thread.
Abram Greenhalgh was a weaver and mother would hire him to weave her th r ead into cloth. He would take much of the thread for the weaving. Moth e r was a lovely seamstress and she made all her boys suits, shirts, an d un derwear and us girls’ dresses and other clothes by hand as she didn’ t hav e a sewing machine. She did all her own knitting and knitted and di d lot s of fine lovely sewing for other people.
When she was working for Anson Call she made his son a best white shi r t and worked it down the front. He prized this shirt very highly. She b ra ided hats for us children out of wheat straw. She pounded corn stalk s t o get the juice and she also scrapped watermelon rinds for juice an d the n she would boil it down to make a little sweet for us children. W e all h ad lots of canker because we didn’t get enough sweet. Mother kep t her hou se spotlessly clean. Sister Fisher told her many times she coul d eat of f her hearth stone, she always kept it so clean.
She always washed and ironed beautifully her Sunday clothes, whether th e y needed it or not, to have them spotless clean for the next Sunday. S h e kept her few dishes on a board shelf covered with paper she had scall op ed and tried to make it look like a cupboard.
Mother was a very faithful woman and many times she would walk long dis t ances to attend to her religious duties. She was a Sunday School teach e r and was also one of the first visiting teachers in the Relief Societ y . She and Sister Gull went all around town and gathered pieces, which t h e Relief Society sisters made into quilts. Mother and Alice Stott boug h t these two first quilts they made and gave nine dollars apiece for the m.
One time father, mother, and the children made a trip to Salt Lake Ci t y in the covered wagon. Mother drove the team all the way and father wa lk ed driving a nice fat steer he sold in Salt Lake. Mother said she coul d t ie in a red handkerchief all the things she got with the money from t he s teer. When my sister Christeena died she left a baby boy ten moths o ld an d also another little boy 5 years old.
Mother cared for these boys until they were twelve and seventeen year s o f age and then their father took them. Mother worked very hard all he r li fe, both in the home and in the garden and fields.
She was always good and kind to her family and did all she could to ma k e them happy. The neighbors’ children loved to come to our house becau s e mother was kind to them and fed them when they were hungry. Many of t h e grown ups now can remember the nice warm scones she gave them when th e y were children.
Her whole married life was a very hard one but she remained faithful a n d was loved by all who knew her. She died at the ripe old age of eighty -f our.
My mother, Jennet Sneden Duncan, was born April 21, 1830 in Gargel, Sco t land to a coal miner, David Sneden and his wife Christeena Lyle.
Mother met my father, James Duncan, on the boat in which they came to A m erica. They lived first in Pennsylvania where she worked for a Mrs. Wal ke r and where mother learned to become an excellent cook. Father courte d he r here and it was here she was living when they were married in 1851 .
In 1852 they came to Utah and settled in the small town of Session, n o w Bountiful. Mother and Father both worked for Anson Call, who paid th e m with a yoke of oxen and a cow. When the Legislature met, Anson Call h a d to go to Fillmore and he took mother and father with him. Father retu rn ed to Session but Mother stayed in Fillmore. She grew tired of stayin g al one and began to walk to Session carrying a small bundle of clothe s on he r back.
It was November and winter was setting in. when she got just north of P r ovo it started to snow and was very cold. As she trudged along throug h th e cold wet snow her clothes froze to her body. A covered wagon cam e by an d she asked for a ride, but the man refused. She grabbed hold o f a rod o n the back of the wagon and hung on until she was worn out an d almost fro zen to death. As she dropped into the snow, the woman on th e wagon saw he r fall. She coaxed her husband to assist Mother into the w agon where sh e helped Mother put on dry clothes. She had to pull Mother’ s shoes and st ockings off as they were frozen to her feet. They left he r near the poin t of the mountain with a motherless family where she stay ed a few days un til she felt stronger—helping them prepare Thanksgivin g dinner. Then sh e went on to Father.
In 1853 Mother and Father moved to Fillmore where Father worked in th e f lourmill for Mr. Bartholomew. Mary Jennet and James were born in Fill more . They moved to Meadow in 1857 and lived under a ridge in a one-roo m lo g house west of town. The dirt blew in this house so badly Mother co uldn’ t stand it. One day she tore up the floorboards of the house and ca rrie d them to the top of the ridge and leaned them against the fence fo r a sh elter. They lived like this until Father had time to build anothe r shelte r. David was born here. The water was muddy and bad so Father de cided t o move into town.
In Meadow they built a two-room adobe house and later a larger house. T h e rest of the children were born in Meadow: John, Christeena, Elizabet h E mma, Adam, George and Richard. Adam and George died as infants.
Father made furniture and Mother cooked in a skillet on the fireplace f o r many years. When she came to Utah she had lovely clothes and many qui lt s and linen sheets. She cut up her white petticoats to make baby cloth e s and used her other things to make older children’s clothes. She mad e Fa ther’s best shirts out of her linen sheets.
Father had accumulated a few sheep. Mother spun wool into thread and h a d Adam Greenhalgh weave her thread into cloth. She was a marvelous seam st ress and knitter and made clothes both for her own family and for othe r p eople.
Mother pounded corn stalks and scraped watermelon rinds for juice, whi c h she boiled down to make sweets. We all had lots of canker from lac k o f sweets. She worked hard all her married life in home, garden and fi eld . She kept her house and clothes spotlessly clean. When my sister Chr iste ena died Mother took care of her two small boys for 12 years.
She was a faithful woman and would walk long distances to attend to h e r religious duties. She was a Sunday School teacher and one of the fir s t visiting teachers in Relief Society. She and Sister Gull gathered pie ce s for quilts made by the Relief Society sisters. Mother and Alice Stot t b ought the first two quilts they made for nine dollars a piece.
Mother was always kind to her family and neighbors. Many grown-ups tod a y remember the warm scones she gave them as children. She was loved b y al l who know her and she died at 84 years of age.
JAMES DUNCAN
James Duncan, son of James Duncan and Mary McLaughlin, was born in Gre e n End, Scotland, February 5, 1828. While a young man in Scotland he hea r d the Mormon Missionaries preach, and was converted to the Mormon Churc h . He decided to come to America and join the Saints.
When he was twenty-two years old he sailed for America. On the dame sh i p was a Scottish girl by the name of Janette Sneddon, just two years yo un ger than James. When they got to Pennsylvania they both stopped to ear n m oney to continue to Utah. Janette worked for a Mrs. Walker who was ve ry k ind to her and taught her many things about house keeping. Mrs. Walk er wa s also very hospitable to James when he came to court Janette. Sh e told J anette to give him food and treat him well. Janette was still wi th Mrs. W alker when she and James were married in 1851.
They crossed the plains and settled in Sessions, (Bountiful) where th e y both worked for Anson Call. When Anson called by Brigham Young to set tl e Fillmore, Anson took James and Janette with him to Fillmore. They fi rs t settled in Fillmore where their first two children were born, Mary J ane tte, born April 15, 1854, and James, born February 26, 1857. James wa s pa sturing a herd of cows on the tall grass about seven miles south o f Fillm ore. The soil was not rocky as it was in Fillmore, and there wa s a smal l mountain stream. He went home and talked it over with his wife , and sh e consented to move to the south. They lived in a cave on the si de of a h ill, and after four months several other families joined them . Here Davi d was born February 4, 1859.
About a year and a half later James Duncan supervised the moving of t h e town of Meadow farther east as the water could then be taken from th e c reek. James was superintendent of the Sunday School, Bishop’s counsel or t o Bishop Hyrum Bell Bennett, and worked in other positions in the ch urch . More children came to bless their home: John born January 7, 1861 ; Chri stina born March 24, 1863; Elizabeth Emma born February 8, 1866; A dam bor n February 3, 1868; Richard born, February 8, 1869; George born A ugust 27 , 1871. James was a professional adobe maker and soon made adobe s and bui lt the first house in Meadow, he also made adobes for the othe r houses an d some of those houses still stand. He was very industrious , strictly hon est and fair in all his dealings, a fine example for all o f the citizens , he passed away, January 4, 1911, at the age of 83 and i s buried besid e his wife in the Meadow Cemetery .
James Duncan was one of the first of four men called to colonize Meado w . The early years there were difficult but not without humor. These ear l y settlers had accumulated some cattle and a few sheep, chickens and pi g s that roamed freely throughout their fields. Because of the tremendou s a mount of work that went into providing food and shelter for the famil ies , corrals and pens had to wait. Companies of settlers on their way t o Cal ifornia found it handy to just help themselves to the animals the y wanted , but the settlers found this increasingly hard to cope with.
One late afternoon when two or three of these company men stopped at gr a ndfather’s place, they saw a nice fat bull and decided to take it alon g w ith them. Grandmother protested but they paid no attention to her. So on a fter they left, grandfather came home from the field where he had be en wo rking and found grandmother in tears and very upset. He decided tha t wa s enough--he was not going to allow people to take his animals any l onge r without at least putting up a fight. He was going to get that bul l back . Though he didn’t have a gun, he did have a good bullwhip, calle d a “qui rt or Black Snake”, hanging on the wall and he knew how to thro w and po p it with authority. Grandmother was afraid of him and tried t o talk hi m out of going after them, but grandfather, a stubborn Scotsman , took dow n the bullwhip and set out at a fast pace. Overtaking the men , he announc ed that he had come for the bull and when they started to ob ject, put o n a little exhibition—popping and swinging the whip with impr essive skill . “Do I get the bull or do you feel the sting of my whip?” h e demanded. J ust what happened after that grandfather never did say, bu t he returned w ith the bull. It has been said that there were some who c ould pick a fl y off a horse with those whips and never touch the horse—t hese men may ha ve thought he was one of this group.
During the time that grandfather and grandmother James Duncan were livi n g in the old fort at Fillmore, Indians often camped where Meadow is no w . Chief Walker, their leader, was known to be a very cruel Indian and m os t of the whites were afraid of him. At that time the area was a vast m ead ow of tall grass so the pioneers ran their cattle there in the summe r an d cut the grass for winter-feed. The men would return to Fillmore ev ery n ight, however, as they were afraid the Indians might make trouble.
One day the cattle thundered into the fort, many shot with Indian arrow s . Grandfather, volunteered to go see what had caused the trouble. At th a t time. Chief Walker’s band was camped on the northeast corner of the t ow n where the creek ran from the mountains through he meadows, so grandf ath er started out on foot along the foothills where the cedars grew thic k. H e met a Mr. King who was looking for his cattle and the two proceede d t o the Indian camp. There they found the Indians dancing around in cir cles , moaning and performing the death rituals. Chief Walker was dead. O ne In dian left the dance, ran a few steps and shot a pony, and then anot her di d the same, and another. These animals were for Chief Walker to fi de [tak e] into the happy hunting grounds.
Later when the dancing stopped, they tied the Chief to a horse, form e d a line and wound their way up the canyon. There they prepared a grav e a nd furnished it with supplies, dishes, weapons and all the material s nece ssary for Chief Walker to live happily in the hereafter. Grandfath er wa s appalled when they also buried alive with him one of his own papo oses . He worked his head up through the pickets that were placed over th e gra ve and cried pitifully.
The Indians gave strict orders to everyone not to go into the canyon—th e ir Chief’s happy hunting grounds. The pioneers were not even allowed t o m ake a road into the canyon.
This experience took place between 1854 and 1857.
Biography obtained from the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, Fillmore, Ut a h, Territorial Statehouse Museum.
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