A By

Sharing our Links to the Past
by Wally and Frances Gray

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FAMILY HISTORY TIDBITS
By Wally Gray

A By-Product of Family History Research

Whatever the motivation for doing genealogy or family history work is, there are by-products.

One by-product is the love and appreciation—even humble thanksgiving--for our ancestors.

Theodore and Frances Turley are ancestors we are proud of.

One (of several) among us who loves Theodore and his family is Ann Laemmlen Lewis. Ann is the third great granddaughter of Theodore Turley and Frances Amelia Kimberly (through Charlotte Turley.)

Ann is my wife’s first cousin once removed.

I mention Ann because she recently has done an in-depth study of three of the Turley couples in connection with a BYU family history class:

            Theodore Turley and Frances Amelia Kimberley
            Charlotte Turley and Jacob Bushman
            Grace Honor Bushman and Emanuel Richard Lundquist

She has published her results on the web. (See Reference below.)

While some of her material is familiar to us, it has been carefully gathered together and heavily documented. I have counted approximately 70 primary or secondary sources footnoted in her articles.

The class professor told Ann that she “was an excellent researcher who clearly loves learning more about your family.”

Ann has been impressed by a prayer uttered by Elisabeth Degen her third great grandmother and mother-in-law of Charlotte Turley uttered two weeks before Elisabeth died, with this plea, ”Oh Lord, grant that my name may not pass into oblivion, but that it may be from generation to generation, because I have tried to keep Thy commandments.” It is Ann’s desire that the memories of our ancestors be kept alive and be shared with each of our families. She finds great joy in gathering and preserving their stories.

The ending of her article on Theodore and Frances Turley sums up her love for our fore bearers:

“Frances and Theodore Turley are my third great grandparents. They lived in some of the most exciting and difficult times following the restoration of the gospel in this dispensation of time. Both left family and loved ones in England and crossed the sea to start a new life in Canada. Once settled, they started a wonderful family of their own and there, as a family, they experienced the great joy of finding truth revealed. Because of their commitment to that truth, they willingly gave up life as they knew it to follow the Prophet, first to Far West, then to Nauvoo. In Nauvoo they were neighbors to the Smith family and involved in the establishment of a new community. Their family grew and expanded, they were counted among the friends of the Prophet. They were intimately involved in the final days of Joseph and Hyrum’s lives, and later, with heavy hearts, they left their homes again to avoid persecution. After already sacrificing so much, Frances, her daughter, and her granddaughter and other family members gave up their weary lives, suffering and dying in cold and discomfort because they wanted to be where the Saints of God were. Theodore and the rest of his children carried on, on to the West, on to the establishment of a new Zion. This is my heritage. Can I do less?”

We encourage you to read her articles!

REFERENCE: Go to http://geocities.datacellar.net/wallygray25/ and scroll down to “Ann Lewis Project Featuring Stories of Ancestors” which starts with the three main stories then lists other stories which she is gradually collecting and adding.