Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Two Mysteries Solved

Have you ever done a mystery quilt? Well, here's one for you to enjoy. I quilted it for a lady who loved the fish fabric and wanted to incorporate into the quilt. I think this quilt turned out lovely.
Although afterwards, I thought, maybe I should have quilted a fish or two on it.
And here's a family history mystery I've been working on. It's about a woman in my husband's line named Mary Jane Humphreys. She was born in 1835 in Canada and as a young girl joined the Mormon church with her family. They traveled to across the border to the U.S. and lived in Nauvoo, IL. There, her parents died, leaving her and her sisters and a brother as orphans. She even knew Joseph Smith and family stories say that she told her grandchildren that he would push her and her sisters in a swing in Nauvoo.
Somehow the little girls made it to the Salt Lake valley. Their brother died along the trail. My husband's line actually comes through her sister Sarah Maria. However, I've been working on compiling records and pictures of the entire Humphreys family.
In 1854 Mary Jane became the sixth wife of Ariah Coats Brower. Her older sister Sarah Maria lived in Nephi, Utah, married to Andrew Love. My records indicate that Mary Jane and her large family lived in a home in Richmond, Utah until her death in 1915. In a life sketch I found about her I read the following...

"Mary Jane spoke of her husband as 'Brother Brower' and once asked by her granddaughter, 'Why do you call him by his first name, didn't you love him?' She told her, 'I respected Brother Brower, but I never knew love until my children were born and they are my love.' "

This just broke my heart and I have been searching for Mary Jane (at least her headstone) for quite sometime now. Last month I went to Richmond, Utah and I finally found Mary Jane's headstone. I thought it would be an easy task, but as you'll find out next time, it was harder than I thought.

Mary Jane Humphreys Brower, in her later years.
Her sister, Sarah Maria Humphreys Love, below, is my husband's great-great grandmother. Note: Both these women have such frowns. I've learned they had such hard lives, no wonder they frowned.

6 comments:

Featheronawire Sally Bramald said...

It's the quilting which makes this quilt stunning.

dee said...

beautiful work as always but I'm fascinated with the history. It's my favorite thing to read about. I know the Church has such wonderful history resources. I would just get lost in that endeavor. Really interesting.

Vicki W said...

Your quilting makes that quilt very special!

Sherri said...

The quilting is beautiful (as always)! I love the family history...sometimes there are such sad thing in our ancestors' lives. I'm a family history enthusiast also, and so I loved hearing your story.

Myra said...

Lovely quilt, beautiful quilting, but I too am fascinated by the history... intriguing!!! 8-)
Happy stitching...and history digging! Good for you! 8-)

Colleen formerly of South Africa said...

Your quilting is divine.I am a newbie..of less than two weeks on a longarm.No idea what I am doing yet....battling pokies. But adore what you have added to that quilt.