Charles Lyman Rollins

Charles Lyman Rollins was 2 years old when he traveled with his family in the Amasa M. Lyman/Charles C. Rich Company in 1857 from San Bernardino back to Utah. Here is some information from the Trail Excerpt as written by his sister, Melissa Keziah Rollins Heyborne, in her autobiographical sketch around 1934:

Soon after the Meadow Mountain Massacre, word came from President Young, “To your tents, O Israel!” In seven days from then we were on the road to Utah. Many of our possessions had to be left behind. The dining room table was piled high with dishes and we left them all. Father had taken his share of stock from the store which made about four wagon loads of goods.

For me, that was a wonderful and exciting journey from California to Utah. We camped at the Mojave one day, the sight being around the point of a mountain. My brother Henry who was nineteen years old, seemed in a great hurry to reach Utah, and when camp broke up he started out ahead of the company with Mother, my two and a half year old brother, and me. Three span of mules pulled the wagon. Presently we saw a large prominent rock by the side of the road. As we drew near, two big Indians jumped out from behind it, all painted and with head bands, feathers, and bows and arrows. One grabbed the lead mules and turned them so that the wheels were cramped, while the other drew his bow and arrow upon Henry. We were terribly frightened. Mother caught up little brother and jumped over the wheels and I followed. John Henry coiled his black whip with the loaded butt and would have struck them but Mother cried out, “Don’t touch them or they will kill every one of us!” At that moment the company drove in sight and the Indians ran away.

A child was born that night but it died. Mother was very ill. Father had intended going to his old home in Salt Lake but because Mother was so sick he tried to rent a room in Cedar for two weeks, but no rooms were to be had. However, we stayed in our tents and wagons and then went to Parawan [Parowan]. We remained there a year.

Another droll incident of that trip happened when in the course of our travels we reached a long steep hill. My grandmother Nancy Walker, a fleshy woman, was coming to Utah with us and she declared she would not ride down the hill and so began walking but she stumbled and fell. Down Grandma rolled right to the bottom of the hill. Although we were very frightened the woman got up laughing and apparently suffered no injury.

President Young sent word to Father that he wanted him to be bishop of Minersville. So you see, he never reached Salt Lake with his family.

From Information found on Ancestry.com:

Pioneer Immigrants to Utah Territory about Charles Lyman Rollins:

Name: Charles Lyman Rollins

Gender: Male

Birth Date: November 10, 1854

Birth Place: San Bernardino, Cailfornia

Religion: LDS

Spouse: Ada Dotson

Marriage Date: June 30, 1875

Father: James Henry Rollins

Mother: Eveline Walker

Departure Place: San Bernardino, California

Departure Date: 1858

Pioneer Company: San Bernardino Colony

Travel Company: Parents, siblings

Trail: Old Spanish

Arrival Date: 1858

Place Settled: Minersville, Utah and later Lyman, Wyoming

Death Date: September 16, 1916

Burial Date: 1916

Submitted by: Marie G. Madsen

Information Source: LDS Family Group Sheet - James H. Rollins, Eveline Walker/Autobiography of James Henry Rollins, Edited by Mary Amelia Rollins Osborn and Ida M. Rollins Hamblin: Typescript (29 pages) 1924. Copy in LDS Historical Archives, Page Number: 002135.

In the 1860 U.S. Federal Census, Charles, 7 years old, was living in Beaver, Beaver County, Utah Territory with his father, James Henry Rollins, listed as J.H. Rawlins, 44, and mother, Evaline Walker Rollins, listed as Eveline Rawlins, 37, Hannah Rawlins, 23 (John Henry Rollins plural wife), and their children: Malissa, 8, Caroline, 6, James W. , 4, and Hannah's children, George, 4, Frances, 1. Also listed in the census was Mary A., 14, John Newman, 17, John Henry, 19, and his wife, Nancy, 16, (my second great grandmother). James Henry Rollins was working as a farmer, the value of his real estate was $260.00 and his personal estate was $2,100.00. I'm not sure who Mary A. was, but the census record stated she was born in England. Also not sure who John Newman was, but he was also born in England and was listed as a farm laborer. John Henry Rollins and Nancy Malinda West had just been married shortly before this census was taken on July 21,1960.

In the 1870 U.S. Federal Census, the family was still living in Minersville, Utah, and were listed as James, 54, and his mother, Evaline, 47, Charles, 17, his brother Watson, 13, and his sister Ida M., 7. James was still farming and his real estate was valued at $600 and his personal estate at $1,000.

Living next door was James' plural wife, Hannah, 34, and her children, George, 14, Frances, 10, Lois, 8, Ernest, 6, Jane, 3, and twins, Edgar W. and Edmund W., nine months old. Also living in their home was Elizabeth Gilbert, 68, a midwife and the aunt of James Henry Rollins, the sister of his mother, Keziah Ketura Van Benthuysen Rollins.

Elizabeth had been married to Sidney Gilbert in Ohio in the late 1820's or early 1830's. James Henry Rollins and his mother and two sisters, Mary Elizabeth Rollins, and Caroline Amelia Rollins, had gone to live with Elizabeth and Sidney after Keziah's husband, John Porter Rollins, perished when the ship he was using to take cattle from New York to Canada in 1820 sank in a storm on Lake Ontario or Lake Erie, and all on board died except for one person.

Charles Lyman Rollins married Ada Dotson June 30, 1875 in Minersville, Beaver, Utah. Ada was born January 1, 1859, in French Camp, Choctaw, Mississippi. She was the third child and second daughter of William Lazarus Hardiman Dotson, (born February 13, 1833, in Pickens county, Alabana, and died on March 5, 1920, in Minersville, buried on March 8, 1920, in Minersville), and Henrietta Landrum, (born October 1, 1832, in Jefferson county, Alabama, died on September 11, 1902, in Minersville, and was buried there September 14th). William and Henrietta were married July 3, 1853, in Attala County, Mississippi.

In the 1880 U.S. Federal Census for Sonora, Tuolumne, California, Charles Rollins, 27, was living with two other fellows, J.L. Branch, 21, and Charles Barrington, 20, but I don't know why he was living there at the time. His occupation was listed as sheep herder. No occupation was listed for Branch or Barrington.

I don't know where Charles was living in 1890, but by the 1900 U.S. Federal Census, he was living in Uinta, Wyoming, with his wife, Ada, and their children: Charles, W., 19, Hardy, 16, Henrietta, 13, and Stanley, 10. Charles was farming and he owned his own farm free from a mortgage. His sons Charles and Hardy are working on the family farm as farm laborers, and Henrietta and Stanley were at school.

By the 1910 U.S. Federal Census for Lyman, Uinta, Wyoming, Charles, 55 and Ada D., 51, were living alone, and Charles was still working as a farmer, and he still owned his own farm. Charles and Ada had been married for 30 years and had six children. Living next door were his sons: Charles W., 29, with his wife Jane K., 27, and their children, son Charles, L., 6, and Melba S., 4; son Hardie E., 26, and his wife, Wilhelmina, 24, and their daughter, Blossom H., one year and two months old. Also next door was Charles and Ada's daughter, Daisey, 33, who was married to William T. Hollingshead, 43, and they had five sons, Paul W., 13, Barlo W., 11, Forest M., 5, August B., 3, and Lagrand R., 9 months old. They had been married for 13 years. Living next door was another of their daughter's, Henrietta, 23, who had married Joseph W. Slade, 24, and they had a daughter, Stella A., 2 months old. They had been married for one year. Sadly, just 6 years later, Charles passed away at the fairly young age of 61 years old.

According to a list of the U.S. Appointments of U.S. Postmasters from 1832 to 1971, Ada Rollins was appointed on August 11, 1911, as post master of Lyman, Uinta, Wyoming.

A U.S. Civil War Pension Index record for Charles L. Rollins made by his widow, Ada, Rollins, stated that Charles served in the Indian War during 1873, and that he was in the Captain Thalis Haskel company of Utah Mail carriers. She filed for his pension on May 2, 1917, and stated that he passed away on September 16, 1916, in Lyman, Wyoming.

I don't know where Ada was living during the 1920 census, but by the 1930 U.S. Federal Census for Lyman, Wyoming, Ada, 73, was living with her daughter Henrietta Slade, 43, and her husband, Joseph W. Slade, 43, and their children, Stella A., 20, Sherlie M., 18, Freda, 15, Joseph O. 14, Deon, 13. The Slade's owned their own home valued at $5,000 and they had a radio in their home. Joseph was working as a manager in a garage. Ada stated she was born in Mississippi and her parents were born in Texas.

Living next door was Charles L. Rollins, (age unknown, but probably 36) and his wife Althea E., 22, and their son Sheldon, L., 2 years and 5 months old, and daughter Sherley G., 10 months old. Charles was working as a laborer in a garage. Also on the same census page was Henry M. Rollins, 43, and his wife Mary, 39, and their children: Stewart M. 21, James E., 17, Melvin W., 15, Thelia, 13, Ruth, 11, George H., 9, Veda M. 7, and Robert E., 4 and a half years old. Henry M. Rollins was working as a manager of a mercantile store., and his son Stewart was working as a laborer doing odd jobs.

In the 1940 U.S. Federal Census for Lyman, Uinta, Wyoming, Ada, 82, was still living with her daughter Henrietta Slade, 53, and her husband Joseph. 54, and with them was their son Joseph W., 20, and a Verla R. Bluemal, a housekeeper, 20 years old. Joseph Slade, Sr., was now the owner of a hardware and implements store. They owned their own home valued at $5,000. This census record stated that Ada's parents were both born in Alabama and not Texas. Two years later on February 18, 1942, Ada passed away at the age of 83, and was buried in Lyman, Uinta, Wyoming.

Charles W. Rollins, born December 18, 1880, in Beaver County, Utah, died October 3, 1962, in Uinta County, Wyoming. He was buried in the Lyman City Cemetery. His wife, Jane Knight Syme Rollins, born April 14, 1883, Rock Springs, Sweetwater, Wyoming, the daughter of James Brown Syme and Margaret Haldane Syme, died August 21, 1959, in Evanstan, Wyoming, Uinta, Wyoming, and was buried with her husband in the Lyman City Cemetery. The following obituary for Jane was published in the Rock Springs Miner on August 23, 1959, and reads as follows:

Jane Rollins Dies Friday in Evanston

EVANSTON (Special)—Jane Knight Rollins, born in Rock Springs on April 14, 1883, died in an Evanston hospital Friday at the age of 76. The daughter of James and Margaret Holden Syme, Mrs. Rollins moved to Lyman after her marriage to Charles W. Rollins in the LDS Temple in Salt Lake City on March 5, 1902.

Mrs. Rollins, a member of the LDS relief society, is survived by her husband, four sons, Levold Rollins and Everett Rollins, Lyman, Glen Rollins, Torrance, California, and Johnnie Rollins, Inglewood, California; two daughters, Mrs. Archie (Melba) Anderson, Green River, and Mrs. Jack (LeVaun) Powers, Cheyenne; one brother, Robert Syme, Rock Springs; 15 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be conducted in the Lyman LDS Chapel at 1 p.m. Monday. Burial will be in the Lyman cemetery.
Friends may call at the Bills funeral home in Evanston Sunday evening and at the chapel from 10 a.m. Monday until the time of services.