Mary Jane Smith

1815 - 1878  (62 years)  Submit Photo / Document    Has more than 100 ancestors and 17 descendants in this family tree.

• Name	Mary Jane Smith
  Birth	29 Apr 1815	Stockholm, St. Lawrence, New York, United States
  Gender	Female
  Initiatory (LDS)	6 Feb 1846	NAUVO
  FamilySearch ID	KWVQ-DBL
  Death	1 Mar 1878	Provo, Utah, Utah, United States
  Burial	Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States
  Person ID	I51147	mytree
  Last Modified	25 Feb 2024

  
  

  Father	Asahel Smith,   b. 21 May 1773, Windham, Rockingham, New Hampshire, United States d. 21 Jul 1848, Wapello, Louisa, Iowa, United States (Age 75 years)
  Mother	Elizabeth Shellenger,   b. 1 Dec 1785, Chatham, Middlesex, Connecticut, United States d. 14 Oct 1846, Wapello, Louisa, Iowa, United States (Age 60 years)
  Marriage	21 Mar 1802	Royalton, Windsor, Vermont, United States
  Family ID	F11856	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	George Washington Gee,   b. 13 Aug 1815, Rome Township, Ashtabula, Ohio, United States d. 20 Jan 1842, Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, United States (Age 26 years)
  Marriage	5 Feb 1837	Kirtland, Lake, Ohio, United States
  Children	1. Elias Smith Gee,   b. 30 May 1838, Fredricksburg, Ray, Missouri, United States d. 10 Aug 1855, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States (Age 17 years) + 2. George Washington Gee, Jr,   b. 9 Oct 1841, Ambrosia, Lee, Iowa, United States d. 17 Sep 1919, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States (Age 77 years)
  Family ID	F19020	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	21 Nov 2024

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 29 Apr 1815 - Stockholm, St. Lawrence, New York, United States Marriage - 5 Feb 1837 - Kirtland, Lake, Ohio, United States Initiatory (LDS) - 6 Feb 1846 - NAUVO Death - 1 Mar 1878 - Provo, Utah, Utah, United States Burial - - Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Notes

  The History of My Grandmother MARY JANE SMITH GE E by Adelia May Gee Jackson Mary Jane Smith Gee was the daughter of Asahel Smith II and Elizabeth S c hellenger. Mary Jane Smith was a cousin of the Prophet Joseph Smith, th ei r fathers being brothers. Mary Jane Smith Gee was born April 29,1813 i n S tockholm, Lawrence Co., New York. She was the fifth child in a famil y o f eight children. Her early life was typical of other children of th e 19t h century, when father, mother and children worked together earnin g a liv elihood for the family. The Smith family were all naturally religious and firm believers in Go d . Soon after the Church of Jesus Christ was organized they became inves ti gators and in June 1835 her father and mother were baptized. Two month s l ater one brother and one sister joined the Church and the following F ebru ary 7, 1836 Mary Jane, three sisters and two brothers entered the wa ter s of baptism, thus the entire family of Asahel Smith II and Elizabet h Sch ellenger Smith became members of the Church . February 5, 1837 Mary Jane Smith married George Washington Gee I who w a s the eldest son of a large family who were all active members of the C hu rch. After their marriage they moved to Fredrickburg, Ray Co., Missour i , where their first son was born May 30, 1838, and they named him Elia s S mith Gee. Soon after they moved to Ambrosia, Lee Co., Iowa, where the ir s econd son was born October 9,1841, and they named him George Washing ton G ee II. He became my father. When George W. the II was one month ol d his f ather was called on a mission to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Soon a fter arr iving in the mission field he was called to administer to a chil d sufferi ng with “black measles.” The child recovered but Elder Gee cont racted th e dread disease and died January 20,1842, leaving my grandmothe r and he r two small sons, the youngest–-who became my father--only thre e months o ld. The Gee family conjointly owned a large farm and the members of the fam i ly lived on it. After the death of my grandfather--George Washington G e e I--my grandmother Mary Jane continued living on the farm. Five year s la ter the father of George Washington Gee I--Salmon Gee--died and th e far m was sold and the money divided among the family. Mary Jane’s shar e wa s a great help in making preparations for coming to Zion. This was t he au tumn of 1846. With her two small sons she crossed the Mississippi R iver i nto Nauvoo, where her father Asahel Smith and her mother Elizabet h Schell enger Smith, her brothers Elias A. and Silas and four sisters an d their f amilies were preparing to obey the mobocratic orders to surrend er Nauvoo , with the Temple, their homes, farms and even their lives, i f the order s were not obeyed at once. The Smith families packed their be longings int o five wagons, having two yoke of oxen for each wagon. Wit h some extra ox en and milk cows they started on the long trek. When they had traveled for some time Mother Smith (Elizabeth Schelleng e r Smith) became ill with chills and fever which made it necessary to st o p at Iowaville to care for her. A part of the family went on for some m il es and then concluded to wait for a few days. In the meantime member s o f the group became ill and they returned to Iowaville. So many becam e il l there were not enough well ones to care for those who were ill. Th ey de cided to remain there as the winter was fast approaching. The mothe r di d not improve and on October 14,1846, she passed away. There were on ly th ree members of her large family who were able to attend her funera l servi ce. She was buried one and one half miles northeast of Iowaville . A larg e rock was placed at the head of her grave and the name Elizabet h Schelle nger Smith was painted on it. Sickness and trials continued, and two years had passed and they had be e n unable to continue their journey. Then the aged Father Smith passed a wa y and he was laid beside his wife and the name of Asahel Smith was pai nte d on the same rock. The surroundings were noted and marked for futur e ide ntification. In after years when the missionaries were sent to carr y th e Gospel message to the Eastern States, there were four of Asahel' s and E lizabeth's grandsons who were in the company. Before leaving hom e they we re instructed to locate the graves and after considerable diffi culty th e graves were found and a fine monument was erected and photogra phs of th e graves and surroundings were taken. On the monument were carv ed the nam es of Asahel Smith and Elizabeth Schellenger Smith with the pl aces and da tes of their births and deaths. Then there was another delay. Elias A. the eldest son of Asahel and Eli z abeth Smith, and his wife Lucy Brown and been married nearly five year s a nd no baby had come to bless their home, and now they were expectin g thei r first child. On September 28,1850 a baby girl was born to them . They na med her Emily. When she grew to womanhood she married Wilford W oodruff, J r. and their first born was a girl and they gave her the nam e of Lucy. Sh e became the wife of George Albert Smith the eighth Preside nt of the Chur ch. It was in the early spring of 1851 that the Asahel Smith II family bi d f arewell to their neighbors and friends in Iowaville and took up the l ong , difficult trek to Council Bluff. It was the rainy season and trave l wa s very slow. There were rivers to cross and mud to pull through. The y tra veled as far as Des Moines and had to wait there for four weeks fo r the r ain to cease. They drove two and one-half miles and crossed the D es Moine s and **** Rivers, which were swollen beyond their banks. The te amsters h aving to swim the extra cattle across. Several times they cam e very nea r being drowned. They camped that night in a small grove not f ar from th e river. After eating a good supper which was given them by re latives whe n they left Des Moines, they went to bed very tired, but ver y thankful t o the Lord for the preservation of their lives . Early the next morning they started on their way again. The prairies we r e sodden and soaked with rain, but the sun was shining and they were ha pp y. The drivers of the wagons were Elias A. Smith (who was brother of M ar y Jane), Samuel P. Hoyt (a brother-in-law) and Mary Jane and her two s on s Elias, age 13, and George W. Gee age 10 years, who later became my f ath er. It was a long, tiresome journey for these two young boys but the y fin ally reached Salt Lake City in the evening of September 21, 1851. T hey dr ove up what in now known as West Temple Street and stopped on th e west si de of Temple Square Block. Here President Young, George A. Smit h, Wilfor d Woodruff, W.W. Phelps and others were there to greet them . In a short time Mary Jane Smith Gee's brother Elias A. Smith who had ma d e arrangements for his family to live in a house on North Temple Stree t b etween West Temple and First West Street, also took his sister Mary J an e and her two sons to live with them until they could make other arran gem ents. Their hearts were full of gratitude for the great blessing of a rriv ing in safety in a land free from mobbings and persecutions. The boys soon found employment. The older one, Elias, began working i n t he Post Office. The younger one, George (who became my father) herde d the ir cattle until they were sold. After that he did odd jobs in the D esere t News. In a few months Mary Jane's brother, Elias A. Smith was mad e Prob ate Judge, a position he held for many years. Tragedy again came t o my gr andmother. Her eldest son, Elias, who was now 17 years of age, be came ill , and in August 1855 died, leaving his mother with an only son , 14 year s old. This son was George W. Gee, who became my father . In 1858, when Johnson's Army invaded Utah, many of the saints moved sou t h, among them Mary Jane who with other relatives moved to Provo. She a n d her son lived in a small adobe house on the west side of what is no w Un iversity Avenue and First North. She then taught school for severa l years . Her son now 17 years old found employment on the farms in the s ummer an d attended school in the winter. At the age of twenty-one, he married Sophina A. Fuller of Salt lake Ci t y on May 4, 1862. He brought his bride to Provo where they and his moth e r lived in the house on University Avenue and First North. The next ye a r he built them a house on Second North and Fourth East. Mary Jane cont in ued to live with them there until her death March 1, 1878, when her bo d y was brought back to Salt lake City for burial in the City Cemetery.