Joseph Spendlove, son of John Spendlove and Mary Slawson from Stanion and Corby Northamptonshire, Leicester St. Margaret
Last update: 27 Dec, 2005
Back to Leatham Spendlove Genealogy
The following is taken from the journal of Joseph Spendlove. He
is my second great grand uncle. He was brother to John Spendlove,
my 2nd great grandfather. There are many remembrances of Joseph's
children and his wife Harriet Payne's family. I have only
extracted Spendlove passages. I have further passages to add at
another
time.
-Jackie Spendlove Leatham
Pictures of Stanion, Northamptonshire
Journal of Joseph Spendlove on his mission to England
Journal # 3 page 39
...have received check on the Deseret National Bank for 216 dollars
from England of the money that my brother Edward left me and my Brother
James the same i expect my sister Ann.
Page 55 1884
i was appointed to the Nottingham Conference ?? to the Liverpool
Conference. I left Liverpool by train for Leicester my old place
and town and Conference where i had been many times in my young Days
and when i got out of the cars i looked around and said to myself is it
possible that i am at Leicester? I new no one all were strangers to me
all though there were hundreds of people but not one that i new i then
sat my self down on the seat and cannot describe my feelings for a long
time i then left my luggage at the station and walked down the street i
new that i had two sisters living in Leicester but new not were to find
them. For 20 years had passed away and a little mor since i left
Leicester i was told will in Liverpool that there was a latter Day
Saints liven in Leicester but i did not know were i would be able to
find them. ...i was received with great kinds by Bro Johnson and his
family... i then laid down about two hours to rest and when i got up i
found Brother Charles Welch from Morgan City, Utah how is on a mission
to England and is travling in this conference he is a nice young man
about 22 years of age i went with him that night to another house in
Leicester i learned from Brother Welch that there was a branch of the
church in Leicester. ...i stayed at the same house the next night which
was very comfortable for me with Bro Welch and Brother Young from Salt
Lake City how is also travling in this Conference.
Journal #3, page 58 Oct 1884
"I thought i would start out in search of the sisters i did and Bro
Welch and Bro Young went with me walked around all day and was about to
give it up but i went shop and asked a man if he new of a woman the
name of Collins he said he new a man the name Collins hi where he lived
i went to the door and behold it was my sister Rebeka's eldest son
house and is mother lived close by i went to door and asked for Mrs
Collins She came to the door but did not know me but i new her i said i
am your brother She said which is it James or Joseph i said
Joseph we kissed each other and shed many tears She said She
never expected to see me any more in this Life She looks very old and
changed a great Deal in the 20 years that i have been goin we talked a
long time and i eat with her and then went to find my Sister Mary
Rebecka told me where i should to find her this was on the 30 day of Oct
i then went and found my Sister Mary i knocked at the door. She
came to the Door and opened it i new her but She did not know me i
asked her if Mrs Harrison lived here She said yes what do you want i
said i want Mrs. Harrison She said come in i went in i asked her if She
had any Brothers in Utah She said She had and looked at me very
hard i could not with hold my Self any longer i had to tel her that i
was her Brother Joseph we then shook hands and shed many tears was she
and i thanked god that i found my Dear Sisters i stopped and talked a
little time and then went to meeting with the Brethren...
Page 59
Nov 1 1884
Leicester i went to my Sister marys that night i shall make my home
with her the time i am in Leicester. Nov 1st i went to see my
Sister Rebecka and hod a long talk with her and her Children Walked
back to marys and stayed with her that night.
i will now give the names of my Sister marys family her husband name
was Joseph Harrison he Died when 28 years of age he Died 26 May 1851
this is as near as i can get it they was marred Feb. 4 1869 her oldest
Daughter name was Lissey then Mary Jane and Johana the last name Died
when a little over three years of age the other two are living in
Leicester Lissey marred to a man the name of William Talbot this ???
the names of the Children of Lissey Laura John h talbot Alfred Ellen
and Gertrude. My Sister Rebecka was marred to a man the name
Page 60
of William Collins
Aug. 11 1852: he came from a village called Wille in Warwickshire he
Died May 15 1879 in the City of Leicester they had 8 Children James
Benjamin Faney John Mary Lisebeth William and Jane fore of them are
marred they all live in Leicester Jane my Sisters Mary Daughter
marred a man the name of Will??? Dent She has two Sons William and
Walter
Page 61
... my two Sister and Jane and her two Boys and Lisseys two Boys were at the meeting after the meeting i had...
Page 62
... i called to my Sister the best i cold She came and got a light and
got me a little water also put my feet in warm water and rubbed my
hands and feet i took a little warm ginger i then felt a little better
i laid down and got a little Sleep but felt very un well all the next
Day...
Page 63
i walked up to see my Sister Rebeca i stayed with her the afternoon She
gave her ages She was Born May 12 1825 at Stanion Northampton ...
Page 66
22: this afternoon i walked up to see my Sister Rebeka She
is not very well but better then She as been and what did i see in her
house but my poor father old Clock that i remember him buying when i
was a Boy my Sister tells me it gois well now i could not help looking
at it and will so doing i thought of my father for i have looked at him
many times when he is been winding it up...
Page 67
24: My Sister hannah rote to us in Leicester to know why i had not come
to Stanion before this they expected me every Day but i have not
been able on account of my Sickness this evening i rote a Letter to my
Brother Benjamin in Walsell...
29: this afternoon my niece Laura took me a walk down through ??? Park
it is a beautiful place all kinds of flowers are to be seen and trees
of every kind that you can think of i should say it is a hundred aches
of ground.
Page 68
30: Sunday i met with the Saints in the meeting room afternoon and
night Bro Welch and my self spoke to the people in the evening about 30
present among them were Laura my niece and one of Jones Boys snowing
all day but we had a very good time together.
Page 69:
this morning i received a letter from my brother Ben in Walsell they are all well and want me to come to see them.
Page 70
7: Sunday we held out two meeting in the meeting room...Lissey Jane Laura and Lissey little boy was there
Page 72:
My brother James tells me that John Wife fell down a hill and lay with
her head down the hill dead when they found her. She had gone out
for a walk i was a bad end to come to (I believe this is Marie Tole,
wife of Joseph's brother, John Spendlove.)
Page 74:
I wish to say a little more about my Brother Edward my Sister Mary
thinks that he was not taking good care of in his Sickness in his Death
seems ???to them all my Sister Mary was sent for by a friend that knew
her if it had not have been for that he would have been put in
the ground and his friends new nothing about him and all that he had
taken by Dishonest People that new he had a little money the women
where he lived was told that his Sister was sent for and that it would
be better to stop the funeral until She came but She would Buried him
my sister got there in the evening that he was buried in the afternoon
a few hours after the funeral She thinks there is a great deal of money
that belongs to us that we shall never find what we have got was in the
Bank of Sheffield. She says there was money in Different people
hands but the people that had it kept mighty still so that nothing
could be found out and i do not think any more will be found. My
Sister Mary went to Sheffield several times . My Sister hannah
and my brother Benjamin went once but they could not make nothing out
he was Sick but a few Days and as soon as he was Dead his Body was put
into the ground. They did not want to here anything about his
friends.
Page 75:
the 7 Chapter of Deuteronomy i was highly Delighted with it and would
like for my Children to well consider it before they ever marry and
also there Children after them from generation to generation this is my
whish and i hope they will remember my Words as their father and when
they remember my Words i also hope they will remember me that they will
keep the Commandments of the Lord which i have tried in my ??? way to
do for i do know that this Church is the Church of God for
God as made this known to me in the days of youth and i have by
the help of the Lord keep this knowledge with me up to the present time
and i do hope and pray to the Lord my God that not one of my Children
nor there Children will ever Depart from the faith that is i mean the
Church and Kingdom of God i also know George Q Cannon to be a man of
God Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ for i known him for years he is
about my age and how read this i hope they will do it with ??? and that
the Lord will bless them and there Children fore ever and
ever Joseph Spendlove
Page 87:
17: this evening i was invited by my Cousin Sarah Ann Holt to go and
take Supper with he i did so with her and her brother wife we had about
two hours talk they have a Dif and Dumb Man lives with them He give me
his likeness and the Dif and Dumb Alphabet they invited me to come
again this girl is a grand Daughter of my Mother Sister Her Mother is
dead. She lives with Her Brother James Holt there is only them
two living of her Mother's Family there Father and Mother Die in
Leicester. Thomas and Catherine Holt there Mother was born in Corby one
mile from Stanion the place where i came from they both was born in
Leicester i invited them to come to our meeting.
Page 91: 29 Jan 1885
this afternoon i went with my niece to the house of M????? on a visit
took tea with her and her daughter stayed until the evening then i
walked to the meeting Room with them
Page 92
found a goodly number of the Brethren and Sister there i think 20 in
all Laura my niece was there also Mr. Panter and wife six Strangers
were present Brothers Johnson Young and my self spoke during the
meeting i spoke about 25 minutes and i can say that with my Brethren
enjoyed the Spirit of the Lord and when meeting was over it seemed as
though the Strangers could not leave the Saints one Gentlemen came to
me and invited me to go to his House and talk with hin and his Family i
told him i would as soon as i could make it convent i think with the
help of Lord we shall Baptize a few before long it seems as though the
Spirit of the Lord is working in the hearts of the People our meeting
are well attended both with Saints and Strangers and i can say that i
take great pleasure in my labors among the People for i can begin to
see why i was sent on a mission for surely the Lord had a work for me
to do and i am thankful to the Lord that i left my home and was
prompted to come to this my natural land to visit my Friends and Preach
the Gospel to them for used to think i should never be worthy of such
calling in the Kingdom of God.
Feb 1 Sunday i left Mr. Panters and walked to my cousins James Holt
having been invited by his Sister Sarah Ann i found the Family all well
and glad to see me .
Page 94:
...this morning i received word from Brother Pratt the Pres of this
Conference to come to Nottingham Brother Wells was in Nottingham and
wanted to see me if i could come.
Page 98 Feb 1885
...this morning i left Mr Panters and came down to my Sister Marys and
when i got into the House the first Word that She said was that My
Brother Benjamin was going to Australia with his Family She had
received a letter this morning that they would sail from London on the
9 or 10 of this month. 16 of them in all i expect they are all goin his
children and there children he haves 9 children in all four sons and
five Daughters three of them having goin to the Country a little over a
year ago and they have sent for the Father and Mother and the rest of
them one of the family Died when young i would to have been to my
Brother before he went away but it is to late now and i have not been
well enough to go to see him since i have been in this country God
bless them all and preserve them on land and on Sea My sister tells me
that my Brother Benjamin was the Father of 11 children 1 still Born and
one Died when quite young that leaves 9 living his wife came from the
Village of Haliton about two miles from Medbourn in Leicestershire
England her Name was Row Ann Rour She had a Brother that went to
Australia some years ago he sent the money for the three Children they
sent for the rest of the Family and i think by the reading of the
letter that the hol Family ever one of them are goin so ho ever may
read this in years to come will know what became of my Brother Benjamin
My Brother William left Liverpool on the 10 of Feb 33 years ago but i
have told all about him in another book.
Book 4
Sep 29, 1886:
Page 6:
i received a Letter from my Sister Mary in Leicester, England She got
my letter. ??? write pleased to here from me they are gettin along
pretty welll the elders often come to see them and they ofter talk of me
1887
Page 9
Feb 4: i received a letter from England from my Sister Mary in
Leicester they rec my letter all right and the money i sent them.
Lissie fell down in the ice and hurt herself but is getten better the
others are all well She says the elders often come to see them and eat
with them. They send kind love to me and Sarah and wish as much
joy and a happy life also harriet and her husband.
Page 14: ... Lizzie sent me her likeness.
Page 19:
May 2 i received a Letter from england from my Sister Mary in Leicester
with Janes likeness and her daughter it is a very good one they are all
well but my Sister Rebekah She fell down last winter on the ice and
broke her coller bone and is not very well they have plenty of work and
are getting along very well.
1889:
Page 25:
Mar 1 to Day i rec a Letter from my Sister Ann with her likness in it
also that of her husband they are all well her oldest son is married.
1890:
Sep 13: i received a New Paper from my Sister Mary in Leicester england she is not living in her old place but moved.
1891: Page 55
the other day i received a Letter from Sister Ann they are all well She
got my Letter all safe pleased to here from me She has had two letters
from England this Winter from my Sisters Mary She says is not very well
in health they will write to me some so she tells me this young Man
that i asked her about in my last letter how came from a Mission the
Name of John Spendlove i saw his Name in the paper and asked her if She
could tell me how he was She says it is my Brother Johns grandson his
Son John's Son. She also tells me that another grandson of his
came from England last fall and has been to see them he is with his
uncle John She wants Sarah Joseph and my self to come and see them.
1891
Page 60:
the other Day i received a paper from William Dent my Sister Marys grandson in Leicester, England.
1893 Page 74:
the British mission was founded in the year 1840. I was baptized
in 1852 and from that time up to the Spring of 1864 i traveled and
Spent all my spare time in Preaching the gospel to my fellow man there
was not a person i think of they wanted two but what could have heard
my voice for i went into ever village for miles around this gives me
great comfort when i think of it.
Page 81:
my sister Ann...had a Letter from my sister Mary in Leicester England
She sent the Letter to me Mary says my Sister Rebecca is very Sick She
keeps her Bead She thinks Rebecca will never be able to get up any more
She wants me to write to Mary is just turned 72 years of age and can
get round wonderful My Sister hannah lives at Kettering six mile from
Stanion the place where we all born She has Built a New house of her
own and two of her Daughter lives with her in the house She says it is
very fine house they all three Work at the Dressmaking and get a good
living the house stands on the Weekley Road and i know the road well i
have traveled
Page 82:
the road many time in my early Days when a Boy. My Sister
Mary pays one dollar and fifty Cents per Week Rent for the house She
lives in also my Sister Rebeca Pays the same for hers when i think of
this i am very thankful that i live in my own house for had i stayed in
England i should no doubt been living in another persons house
and been paying Rent this i had to do all the time ??? there so
did my father before me. My fathers was a good house
and he had about one acre of Land to the house which made us a very
good garden he Payed eight dollars a year Rent for the same but my
father lived in a country Village My Sister Mary lives in a City.
Page 118:
I have herd my father speak of my mother many times when i was a little
boy at home with him how she would sit and read the Bible to him at
night when all of us children had goin to bed. I remember we had
a old Bible yes very old indeed i think not less then one hundred years
this was called Mothers Bible it was thought a great deal of in the
family what became of it i can not say but i know this much that Bibles
in them Days were very scarce not many families had them my Mother was
a Bible reader and I believe a lover of the Principles it contained but
she new nothing of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. She
thought and believed in the Church of England to that Church my parents
used to go and take their children i often think of the old church that
stood in the village of Stanion in the county of Northants. Were
i was born it was very large and very thick walls of stone been belt
hundreds and hundreds of years the steeple towered up into the heavens
that it could be seen for many miles through the surrounding country i
remember when i used to go with my father on a Sunday that it was that
cold in it that my feet used to ache with the cold there was no fire
nor stove within the building by which it could be warmed up....in the
yard all the dead of the village were laid and i wish to say to my
children that in this little yard lied the bodies or bones of my dear
father and mother i saw my father put there and some years after my
mother died i was shown the grave of my mother so i know where there
ashes
lie and as far as i know my grandfather was laid there also but
this could be found out by looking at that church record and i wish to
say if any of my children should ever be to England i would like for
them to go and find out my mothers friends as far as i know are buried
in the church yard of the village of Corby about ...mile from Stanion.
Page 128:
My Sister Mary is 70th years of age and she says she can walk about
wonderful but feels a little feeble She's got a good home and very
comfortable. Jane and her sons are with her. She says my
sister Rebecca is a very poor creature and poorly off She often goes to
see her and to comfort her.
... her children do not do much for her i have taken these words from Marys letter.
Page 129:
I have said ...before my father was the first man that spoke to me of
this gospel he was not in the church he only told me of what he had
heard and i believed it with all my heart. ...how the
gospel found me ...i must obey the impression it made in my heart
will never be forgotten by me while i live there is a power comes with
that Spirit that no man can give nor take away it is only known by
those that receive it
Page 154:
Jan 8th 1897 Today I got a letter from Joseph he is in Virgin City with
my brother John's children he finds them all well and very glad to see
him he says there is half the place relatives it will take him some
time to see them all they treat him very kind and he is having a very
enjoyable time with them i wish to say hear that my Brother John had
four children that came to this country two sons and two daughters he
is speaking of there children in which are beginning to be many.
Page 155 1898
He has been to St George and seen the temple he says it is grand
to look at a beautiful site but he does not take the look of the
country as it is a rough looking and very little farming land.
...I am very pleased to hear from all of my brother John's children and
to learn that they are all in the church i know that there father would
be very pleased to hear these consoling words of his children for he
was a faithful good honest man in this church and taught his children
the same all the days of his life he died a faithful Latter Day Saint.
Page 156: 1898
today I posted a letter to my sister Mary in Leicester England in
answer to the one i received from her a few weeks ago thanking her for
sending me her likeness and that of Walter Dent her girl and son i am
glad they think of me.
Page 180: 1900:
to day i rec a letter from my dear sister Mary in Leicester it was
written by her grandson Walter Alonzo Dent he says his grandmother is
not very well he is liven with her and his mother my sister Rebeccas
daughter (Jane) is goin blind she is ... off my sister are all
getten old my sister hanna lives at Kettering that is six miles from
Stanion . My sisters children are all well and getten married
fast.
Book # 5: 1901 Page 5
Harriet Collins died on the 29th. Sarah was with her until she
passed away she leaves a husband and six children to morn her loss She
came from London were Sarah did the family came to this country in the
fall of 85th from London and settled in Ogden.
Page 11 1901
My brother Ben went to that country with his family a few years
ago...what the cause of his death was she dose not say he was not a old
man he ... i think about one year an ten months younger then my self
but he was a man that had worked very hard he had a large family i
think 13 children he lived in the town of Staford for over 20 years his
wife was born in the village
of Halton one mile from Medbourn the place where my dear wife
Harriet was born. Ben as we used to call him was the six son of
my fathers family he was a very wild boy in his young days but a good
honest boy always full of fun i meant to have gone to see him while i
was in England on my mission but i was so un well and so much to do
that i could not get to where he lived and he went before i left
England i did not see him more
Page 52:
I am thankful that the children have got a good house in which to go to
school and in a good place and i want to say to my children and to my
grandchildren that i though of you all an fought for you and your
schoolhouse when i came to this place and ...i came to this place in
the fall of 1864 there were but few of us at that time and no
schoolhouse and but few children i went with a few others up this
canyon into the mountains and cut down the logs and hauled them down
and helped to build our first little school house i done more then my
share and in this last one i have paid more tax then any one man in
this place and what i have paid is been every dollars in money while
many others have paid a good part in work the house was built last
summer.
Page 56 1904
Sep 19, 1904 it is just forty years this day since i set my foot in
this land that was in the city of Salt Lake i stayed there about three
weeks worth for J C Little and after the oct Conference with my family
i come up to this valley and settled on this creek and to see this
place and this valley at that time and look at it two day one could
hardly think that such a change could be made in so short time.
There were but few people in the valley at that time i found four
families between Morgan and Milton, the country looked as though a man
could not live there such a change to that of England that winter was
such a hard one i shall never forget many times we were without bread
the snow two feet deep we lived in covered wagon six weeks i went up
this canyon cut some logs and belt a little log house on which i put
dirt we lived in that all that winter and the next summer then i built
a log house on this lot were we now live my faith was all the time that
the Lord would open my way and he has don it.
Page 74:
the conference in which i received the gospel there was a branch of the
church in that conference called the Pelton Branch in that branch i was
baptized by James Wright in the month of May 1852 conformed a member of
the church by my brother John by the water side this branch was five
miles from the town called Rugby in Rugby there was another branch of
the church at that time i see it is now called the Birmingham
Conference and i am also pleased to here that the work of the Lord is
still alive in that part of the Lords vineyard. At that time my
brother John lived two miles from the village of Pelton there i went to
the first meetings in this church with him this place is not far from
???? this is were the first seeds of the gospel were sown and now the
Lords harvest.
Page 165:
i met with Joseph F. Smith in a meeting held in my sister Rebeccas
house when he was a young man on his first mission to England i think
it was in the year 1861, 1862.
Page 172:
My brother John son John died at Virgin City about two months ago and
left eight children my brother John children all went to the south when
they came to this country from England he had three sons Fredrick, John
and William they lived in the city of Birmingham England they worked on
the railway at that place he had 3 daughters 2 come to this country one
would not come with him (Rebecca) but she wants to come now so i here
but is not got the money.
Page 175
Now i will say a little more about my brother John he as i said he was
a rail road man all his days in England he helped to make the rail road
that was from Leicester to ...by and after it was don he was made
section boss on ??? in England such a man is called a ??? he lived at a
place called gilscorner in a house which was built for him above the
tunnel.
Now i will state that when i was President of the Dunton Branch in
England we held a meeting in that house one night and in that house
that night i met for the first time President Joseph F Smith and had
him speak and said that the time would come when he would become great
in this Church and the day is come when we now see it of him.
Page 176:
Now John lived at gilscorner for many years and took care of that
tunnel and after years they move him to the city of Birmingham were the
railroad runs over the top of the houses then he was made Boss on that
??? and on that road over that town he and his boys worked until they
all came to this country his wife died at gilscorner and my sister Mary
then went to keep his house and take care of his children She kept his
house several years then my sister Rebecka kept his house several years
also my sister both of them got married and John then went to
Birmingham and in a short time he got married again but he had no
children by this wife. She was a good woman and good to his
children. She came to this country with him they both came to see
me and stayed with me two weeks we had a good time wile here they both
died down at Virgin City where they are buried. John was the
oldest boy of my father family he born in the village of Stanion
Northamptonshire England he was the son of John Spendlove and Mary
Slawson the names of my fathers family will be found in my first book i
have wrote three books and this makes the fourth and there is not one
of my father and mothers family that have wrote one line save myself
but in my first book and in this book will be found many things that
tell the children and the children of the Spendlove family will like to
know the ??? that John worked on at gilscorner is called the Millen
county his first wife came from a village called Whetstone near
Leicester i think she was born there he name was Harrison i think also
she was buried there his last wife came from a little place called ???
near country near Birmingham. Now i do not think i can say any
more about my Brother John family what i have said is for the good of
his children some of them when at some time when we are all gone may
want to find out something about there father if so then they will
thank me for this.
March 12 1915 is Joseph's last entry in his journal. He talks
about the weather and his children. Joseph Spendlove died 16 Oct
1915.
Page 176