Henry James "Jimmie" Clegg

Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, 1847–1868 Richard Ballantyne Company (1855)

Departure: 1-2 July 1855 Arrival: 25 September 1855

Company Information: 402 individuals and 45 wagons were in the company when it began its journey from the outfitting post at Mormon Grove, Kansas

Perpetual Emigrating Fund

He is not listed in the company records but died at Mormon Grove along with his mother. His father and six year old brother continued on to Utah

Find a Grave

Birth: Feb. 22, 1854 Liverpool Merseyside, England

Death: May 29, 1855 Atchison County Kansas, USA

Son of Henry Clegg Jr. and Hannah (Eastham) Clegg. Died here a few days after his mother. Buried next to her.

Family links:

Parents:

• Henry Clegg (1825 - 1894)
• Hannah Eastham Clegg (1821 - 1855)

Burial: Mormon Grove Historical Marker (Memorial) Parnell Atchison County Kansas, USA Plot: Unmarked

Cemetery notes and/or description: Mormon Grove

The City That Disappeared

Near here, located in a grove of young hickory trees, was an important rallying point in 1855 and 1856 for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon), then emigrating to the Rocky Mountains.

The campground, really a temporary village covering about 150 acres, consisted of the grove, a large pasture fenced by native sod and a ditch, and a burial ground located on the elevated ridge between the grove and the farm. Though one or two permanent structures were erected, most residents lived in tents, wagon boxes or make-shift dwellings.

During the peak year of emigration at Mormon Grove in 1855, nearly 2,000 Latter-day Saints with 337 wagons left here for the Salt Lake Valley.

It was also a tragic year for the U.S., British, and European Mormons at the little waystation, many dying in a cholera epidemic. In 1856, Iowa City, Iowa, became the major jump-off point for Latter-day Saint westward travel, and Mormon Grove became a forgotten gathering place.

(Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Kansas Historical Society)

According to most reports, there are no grave markers left... the exact location isn't known.

Shannon S Twp, NE 1/4 Sec 5