Orpha Amelia Rogers

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: KWJD-WBP
• Initiatory (LDS): 25 Apr 1877, SGEOR

Orpha married Joseph Henry James on 12 Sep 1882 in St. George, Washington, Utah, United States. Joseph was born on 22 Oct 1855 in Ogden, Weber, Utah, United States; died on 25 Apr 1908 in Colonia Juárez, Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, México; was buried on 26 Apr 1908 in Colonia Juárez, Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, México. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Initiatory (LDS): Not Needed
• FamilySearch ID: KVFB-4BT

Other Events and Attributes:

• Initiatory (LDS): Not Needed
• FamilySearch ID: KWJ6-GF4

Other Events and Attributes:

• Initiatory (LDS): Not Needed
• FamilySearch ID: KWJV-DMN

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: KWJV-VH6
• Initiatory (LDS): 11 Mar 1914, MANTI

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: KVFB-HQJ
• Initiatory (LDS): 15 Aug 2006, BOISE

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: KVFB-HWV
• Initiatory (LDS): 27 Oct 1930, SLAKE

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: KWCR-FNV
• Initiatory (LDS): 10 Aug 1935, LOGAN

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.

Orrin married Harriet Ann Whipple on 20 Jan 1924 in Colonia Díaz, Ascensión, Chihuahua, México, and was divorced. Harriet (daughter of Charles Whipple and Mary Louisa Walser) was born on 4 Dec 1905 in Colonia Juárez, Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, México; died on 22 Nov 1986 in Hughson, Stanislaus, California, United States; was buried on 25 Nov 1986 in Lakewood Memorial Park, Hughson, Stanislaus, California, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Initiatory (LDS): Not Needed
• FamilySearch ID: KWJ8-87R

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: KWZP-XTT
• Initiatory (LDS): 19 Oct 1963, ARIZO

Notes:

Obituary:
Margie James Weaver
June 18, 1927 - June 10, 2011

Margie James Weaver passed away Sunday, July 10 in a Payson nursing ho m e after a lengthy battle with cancer.
Margie was born June 18, 1927 in Gallup, N.M., the oldest daughter of Ha r riet Ann Whipple and Orrin James.
As a small child, she knew the loss of four of her younger siblings wh o d ied in various stages of infancy. Margie never forgot those siblings.
When she was 4 years old, her younger sister Bobby LaRee James was bor n . Margie and Bobby were joined a few years later by an adopted sister , Wa nda James. This completed the family that Margie cherished through h er gr owing years and throughout her adult life.
During her life, Margie enjoyed many careers, serving as a cook, a custo d ian, a clerk at JC Penney, a traveling saleswoman, and as a video stor e o wner. Before her retirement, she enjoyed success as a Realtor at MV P Real ty in Strawberry.
During her working years, she also had five children, and is survive d b y four of those children, Bobbie Burke of Greeley, Colorado, Gerry Ri dle y of South Dakota, Kathy Thompson of Star Valley, Arizona and Judy We st o f Avondale, Arizona.
She is also survived by 17 granddaughters;12 grandsons; and 62 great-gra n dchildren; as well as several great-great-grandchildren and her younge s t sister, Wanda Finnell of California.
She was preceded in death by her son, Orrin LeRoy Knight; as well as b y h er husband, Thomas Funk Weaver; and her sister, Bobbie LaRee Cochenou r.
Margie lived in the Payson, Arizona area for several years and enjoy e d a warm friendship with the members of her church family and many gre a t neighbors at the Canal Senior Apartments as well as past working asso ci ates from Strawberry. She loved to tease and was well known for her sp ic y wit. The more Margie liked people, the more she liked to tease them.
Margie had a firm faith in Jesus Christ, and was excited to move past th i s world into a bright new horizon.
A memorial service is planned for 2 p.m., Friday, July 15 at the Churc h o f Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 913 S. Ponderosa St. in Payson , an d is open to the public.
(from The Payson (Arizona) Roundup)

Margie married James Louis Knight about 1943. James (son of Bluford Knight and Alice M Wilson) was born on 2 Oct 1926 in Shaw, Bolivar, Mississippi, United States; died on 8 Nov 1988 in Fontana, San Bernardino, California, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Margie married Chester David Blakeney on 20 Oct 1952 in Carson City, Ormsby, Nevada, United States, and was divorced in 1959 in Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona, United States. Chester (son of Isaac Jesse Blakeney and Ludy Dell Williams) was born on 12 Dec 1921 in Turkey, Hall, Texas, United States; died on 20 Apr 2000 in Hughes Springs, Cass, Texas, United States; was buried in Payson, Gila, Arizona, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Margie married Thomas Funk Weaver on 10 Mar 1962 in Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona, United States. Thomas (son of Thomas Jefferson Weaver and Mary Iduma Funk) was born on 13 Apr 1919 in Elizabeth, Harrison, Indiana, United States; died on 11 Jun 1999 in Strawberry, Gila, Arizona, United States; was buried on 14 Jun 1999 in Pine, Gila, Arizona, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Margie married Pawnee Bill HollawayMesa, Maricopa, Arizona, United States. Pawnee (son of Johnson Hollaway and Maggie Luella Childress) was born on 29 Mar 1920 in Indiahoma, Comanche, Oklahoma, United States; died on 17 Aug 1984 in Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona, United States; was buried in City of Mesa Cemetery, Maricopa, Arizona, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Initiatory (LDS): Not Needed
• FamilySearch ID: 27SW-ZND

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: KWCR-FNF
• Initiatory (LDS): 22 Dec 1950, ARIZO

Bobby married Richard Hadley Cochenour on 22 Jan 1950 in Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona, United States. Richard (son of Earl Webster Cochenour and Clara Bernice Woodring) was born on 16 Aug 1927 in Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona, United States; died on 25 Jun 2008 in Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona, United States; was buried in City of Mesa Cemetery, Maricopa, Arizona, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Initiatory (LDS): Not Needed
• FamilySearch ID: KWJZ-DBY

Other Events and Attributes:

• Initiatory (LDS): Not Needed
• FamilySearch ID: 27SW-ZKQ

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: KWDQ-YG2
• Initiatory (LDS): 2 Jan 2003, OAKLA

Wanda married Loyd Corum in 1961. Loyd was born on 11 Jun 1927; died on 15 Aug 2010 in Sacramento, Sacramento, California, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Wanda married Donald Lee Roy Shoopman on 5 May 1973 in Salida, Stanislaus, California, United States. Donald (son of Living and Living) was born on 1 Aug 1938 in El Centro, Imperial, California, United States; died on 20 Jul 2011; was buried in Gustine, Merced, California, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Initiatory (LDS): COMPLETED
• FamilySearch ID: KW8J-PS2

Other Events and Attributes:

• Initiatory (LDS): COMPLETED
• FamilySearch ID: KWCR-FJL

Notes:

Obituary:
Richard Hadley Cochenour, Jr, age 51 of Mesa, Arizona returned home to t h e loving arms of his Mother and Father on October 17, 2015. Richard wa s b orn October 17, 1964 in Mesa to Bobby Laree and Richard Hadley Cochen our , Sr.

Richard grew up in Mesa and graduated from Westwood High School in 198 3 . His youth was spent usually at the lakes fishing with his family. Ri c h will be most remembered for his loving caring nature. He always had t im e for everybody. His interests and passions were fishing and playing s oft ball. Rich touched the lives of everyone he met. He was a devoted fat he r and cared deeply about his family, whether that family was his own f ami ly, his extended family or his scouting family which came later in hi s li fe. When he became Scout Master his devotion to the Boy Scouts becam e hi s passion.

Rich is preceded in death by his parents Richard Hadley Cochenour Sr. a n d Bobby Laree James Cochenour. Rich is survived by his son Zackary Coch en our age 17 and daughter Valarie Cochenour age 6. Richard is also survi ve d by siblings Trisha and Wayne Rogers, Roxana Ooten, Connie and Jeff M orr is, Janna and Douglas Westbrook, Harriet Hamilton, Joan and Tony Web b an d Rob and A'Lece Cochenour.

We will miss his enthusiasm, his smile and his dedication.

A visitation will be held on Saturday morning beginning at 9:30am to 10: 4 5am at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1315 South 24t h St reet in Mesa Arizona. The funeral service will begin at 11am. Arrang ement s are through A.L. Moore-Grimshaw Mortuary 710 West Bethany Home Ro ad, Ph oenix, Arizona 85013.