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Newberry’s
moving to Western Reserve
James Newberry began wandering as
a young man. He married Mary
Smith b. June 11, 1792 on August
24, 1811 in Mill, Ohio or Warwick, N.Y.. The exact place is unknown for
now, nor are we sure what activities
James may have been engaged in at the time. The record eludes us.
He may have been out in Ohio on a hunting
expedition to bring in food for the winter. By this time he was twenty years of age.
Mill, Ohio is due east of
Coshocton, Ohio which before the Revolution was a Delaware town. Indian America at this time is described
by Calloway as “A cultural cacophony, a country of mixed and
mixing peoples” especially in Ohio.
Unproved record states that he served in the War of 1812. I have
checked NARA for these records, but each
time I have requested his service record they have been unable to find it.
His brother Joshua had a pension for the
same war, but this as well has been difficult to come by.
James
lived in Warwick with Mary for the births of their first four children.
Following the birth record gives some
idea as to where their wanderings took them. This record was written
by James so I would assume it to be correct.
Sometime
after John Newberry II's death in Warwick (1818) his children began
leaving home for Ohio. In 1821, James
Newberry, with his wife and family, moved from Orange County to
Hanover, Lucerne Co., PA. The family may have
stayed only a short time before they moved again. Their fifth child
Hannah Maria was born in Strongsville, Cuyahoga Co.,
Ohio in 1823. By 1825 they were in Brownhelm, Ohio for the birth of their
sixth child, where they resided for a few years.
Many of his siblings made the trek to Ohio. Sally and Benjamin
Scofield were residents of Strongsville up through the
1850's. Thomas and Zilphia Sly were in Brownhelm. Later their
brother John and Sally Fancher Newberry joined them
in Brownhelm. It is thought that some of the Smith's may have also
been there. Other names of relations of their siblings
spouses were there as well, Durands, and Fanchers. Of these these
people, many were from Orange Co. N.Y.
James Newberry converted to Mormonism in 1831 in the infancy of the
Church. James was baptized by Edson Fuller*
in Ohio. He was made an elder of the Church by Joseph Smith himself. His
family wondered at his sanity after
being brought up in a Baptist home. James apparently had a close
relationship with Joseph Smith. Many of the early
church records were lost or destroyed during the flight of the people from
Missouri to Illinois. There is no record of
Mary's baptism and many of her younger children were baptized later in
their lives. Perhaps Mary was baptized in
1840 when her daughter Hannah Maria (subject of this website) was
baptized. In 1841 Mary commenced a record of
proxy baptisms of her deceased family, termed, "Baptisms for the
Dead".
James gathered his family and in 1832 moved to Jackson County, Mo. To help
understand his movements, I have
posted his children's birth record as recorded by James. The following was
taken from a family journal dated 1841.
The journal was started shortly after arriving in Iowa. The contents are
fascinating and were kept by someone in the
family until 1976, with some new entries added until that date. The
journal was begun James Newberry in Lee County,
Iowa. The italicized information is information that was added and was not
in the original document.
James
Newberry and Mary Smith Newberry
James Newberry b.
May 29, 1791 died July 10,
1880 Council Bluffs, Iowa Married
August 24, 1811
Mary Smith Newberry b. June 11, 1792
died February 7, 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois
Daughter of Samuel Smith and Jane Stephens
Their Children:
1. Jane Newberry b. Oct. 17 1812
Warwick, Orange, N.Y. d.
December 1, 1907
Panama, Iowa. Married Jacob Crandall
2. John Smith Newberry b.
May 22, 1814 Warwick, Orange, N.Y.
d. 1863 Lee Co.
Iowa (The middle name of Smith was likely in honor of John’s
grandfather Samuel Smith)
Married Lucinda Williams
3. Abraham B. Newberry b. March 31, 1816 Warwick, Orange,
N.Y. d. Argyle, Lee
Co.
Iowa
August 1, 1898 Married Elizabeth Duty, later divorced
4. James Washington Newberry b. December 9, 1819 Warwick, N.Y. d. May 7, 1895
Lee Co. Iowa married Edith Benedict
5. Sally (Sarah) Ann Newberry b. June 19, 1821
Hanover, York, PA d.
January 24, 1907
Parowan, Iron, Utah. Married Calvin C. Pendleton
►6.
Hannah Maria Newberry b.
March 13, 1823 Strongsville,
Cuyahoga, Ohio
d. March 6, 1893
Salt Lake City, Salt Lake county, Utah. Married George Morris.
This marriage was the second for George
Morris who lost his first wife before he
came to this country from England.
7. Harriet Newberry
b. Nov 24, 1825 Brownhelm,
Lorain, Ohio – Notation in journal
Harriet Newbery Palmer died at Montrose,
Lee Co., Iowa (more in notation but not legible)
1849 Married Seth Palmer. Married to George
Morris is a posthumous Mormon sealing
ceremony as his fourth wife. Before the Mormons left Nauvoo, she had
requested to
become a polygamist wife but was stopped by her siblings Jane,
Abraham and James
Washington, who took her out of the area when they were informed of
her plans.
At the time she was only 17 years old.
8. Lecty (Electa)
Louisa Newberry b.
April 4, 1827 Brownhelm,
Lorain, Ohio
d. Placer County, California February 13, 1888. Married George Wixon
2nd marriage
to Horace Mansur. She pre-deceased Horace Mansur.
9. Esther Newberry b. June 7, 1829 Brownhelm, Lorain, Ohio.
d. Lotus, El Dorado
Co.
California March 29 1891 Married Edward Beebee
June 29, 1849 he died in Iowa
pre-deceasing Esther.
10. Patty
(Martha) Newberry b.
August 20, 1832 Brownhelm, Lorain, Ohio
d. Sept 23, 1917
Parowan, Iron, Utah Married George Hyatt
_____________________________________________
In the same family journal, a
copy of James Newberry's patriarchal blessing was hand written. A
patriarchal blessing
is a convention unique to the people of the LDS faith. It is usually
given by a member of the Church who is has a highly
respected position. James' blessing was given to him by Hyrum Smith
(Joseph Smith's brother). In the blessing James
is said to be from the “tribe Israel and the lineage of Mannasseh”.
The lineage of Mannasseh is just an old way of
saying that he was Native American. Hyrum
Smith probably recognized his distinctiveness when administering the
blessing. It is interesting to note that most people who are recognized as
being from this tribe are usually people of
color from Native American or South American descent.
On to Missouri an adventure! |