James Robert Welker

The above photo shows three of James Robert Welker's sons, left to right: James Wilburn Welker, John Welker, and Jacob Welker. The children of James Robert Welker and his wife, Elizabeth Stoker, were five sons and three daughters, who blessed them with over 60 grandchildren and hundreds of great grand children! Their children were as follows:

David Welker, born July 2, 1823, in Henry County, Indiana, who died in 1823 as an infant.

James Wilburn Welker, born January 17, 1825, in Jackson County, Ohio; died May 3, 1912, at Bloomington, Bear Lake, Idaho. He married first February 17, 1845, Anna Pugh, born January 31, 1820, at Knoxville, Knox, Tennessee, daughter of Daniel Pugh and Martha Harris.

He married second Susan Caroline Stevenson, born June 29, 1833, in Knox County, Tennessee; died September 22, 1907, at Magrath, Alberta, Canada. She was the daughter of Issac Henderson Stevenson and his wife Mary Pugh. James Wilburn Welker was the father of nine sons and eight daughters by his two wives.

John Welker, born March 16, 1826, in Jackson county, Ohio; died June 1, 1913, at Safford, Graham, Arizona. He married Roxana Mahalia Dustin, April 2, 1850. She was born July 3, 1833, Le Roy, Genesee, New York; died March 11, 1904, at Safford, Graham, Arizona, a daughter of Bechias Dustin and his wife Asenath Hurlbut. They had 2 children, Roxana Louisa Welker and John Eller Welker. Roxana Louisa Welker married Christian Madsen and had 10 children, and John Eller Welker married Sarah Ann Thornock and had 11 children.

Jacob Stoker Welker, born January 8, 1829, in Jackson County, Ohio, died April 8, 1911, at Bloomington, Bear Lake, Idaho. He married February, 1855, Harriet Angeline Lish, born July 25, 1839, at Greenwood, Steuben, New York; died October 7, 1914, at Bloomington, Bear Lake, Idaho. She was the daughter of Joseph Lyons Lish and his wife Harriet Ann Tripp. They had 13 children.

Mary Catherine Welker, born January 12, 1832, in Jackson County, Ohio; died December 8, 1920, at Franklin, Greenlee, Arizona. She married Thomas Billington Nelson, born May 9, 1835 in Jefferson County, Illinois; died February 19, 1918, at Thatcher, Graham, Arizona, a son of Edmond Nelson and Jane Taylor. They had 11 children.

Susan Welker, born 1834 in Jackson County, Ohio, died in infancy.

Rebecca Welker, born July 21, 1835, in Jackson County, Ohio; died 1863, in Willard, Box Elder, Utah. She married Alexander Roswell Stevens, born November 28, 1832/3, at Mt. Pleasant, Canada; died January 17, 1915, at Springfield, Lane, Oregon. He was the son of Roswell Stevens and his wife Mariah Doyle/Dayle. They had 5 children, and she passed away during or shortly after the birth of their 5th child, Julia.

Sarah Welker, born in about 1837 and died in 1926. Not sure if she married or had any children. Probably named after James Welker's sister, Saran Ann Welker Brown (1805-1856).

Adam Welker, born February 19, 1841, near Columbus, Adams, Illinois; died April 2, 1926, at Safford, Graham, Arizona. He married Agnes Dock, February 22, 1865, at Willard, box Elder, Utah. Agnes Dock was born April 28, 1847, at Paisley, Renfrew, Scotland and died February 25, 1913, at Safford, Graham, Arizona. She was a daughter of Robert Dock and his wife Agnes Dreghorn. They had 13 children.

James Robert Welker came from Ohio with his wife and children and were living near Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois, in 1844, when he died of intermittent fever and was buried there. In 1852, his wife and children went west to the Great Salt Lake Valley. They lived in Utah for a few years, and then moved to Bloomington, Bear Lake, Idaho, in 1863 at the request of the Mormon Church.

In 1883, John Welker, his youngest brother, Adam, and several of their extended family members moved to Safford, Arizona, where John and his wife Roxanna passed away, she in 1904 and he in 1913. John and Adam's brothers, James Wilburn and Jacob, did not move to Arizona, and stayed in Bloomington, Bear Lake Idaho, and they and most of their families were buried there. John and Adam's sister, Mary Catherine Welker Nelson, and her husband, Thomas Billington Nelson, also moved to Arizona at the time John and Adam moved there.

John Welker's daughter, Roxana Louisa Welker, married Christian Madsen while they were still living in Idaho, in 1867, and their first daughter, Dortha Roxana Madsen, was born there in 1869. She was my great grandmother. Other Welker siblings married other Madsen siblings, including James Albert Welker, the son of James Wilburn Welker, who married Inger Marie Madsen, the sister of Christian Madsen, and another of Christian's sisters, Eliza, married Albert Welker, also a son of James Wilburn Welker. Eliza and her husband Albert also moved to Safford with John and Adam Welker and John's daughter, Roxana Louisa, and her husband Christian Madsen in 1883, when their daughter Dortha was just 14 years old.

Della Dale Smith-Pistelli

April 8, 2014

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Following is information written by La Ray Welker that was found in a document entitled, "Welker's in the USA. A Collection of Related Welker's Stemming from Pennsylvania and other Welker's," which was updated July 29, 2012, and was a part of Roots Web's World Connect, an Ancestry.com project. It talks about James Robert Welker, born August 19, 1803 in Rowan, Carolina, and died September, 1844, in Pike, Illinois:

James went from Jackson County, Ohio, to Henry County, Indiana about 1822; then back to Jackson County, Ohio, in 1825, where they joined the LDS church in 1834; and then to Adams Co., Illinois in about 1840. This information is from parts of a little red book kept by John Welker a son of James Welker and other sources. James died in Pike County with intermittent fever.

All made it alive through that trek across the state of Missouri to the Mississippi River. They crossed the river to where the Saints were camped on the East bank. When they arrived a man by the name of Coleman Wilks started talking to James and found he had three good sized boys. He was looking for a family to help him on his large farm. He had an empty house where the family could live and he would furnish them with provisions for their labor. He decided James' family was the family he wanted. A place was found close by for the Stoker families. This was in Adams county, Illinois, two miles south of Columbus. Mr. Wilks was a very kind and fatherly person. The family was able to remain here for three years. This gave James and Elizabeth a chance to get back on their feet again. It was also here that Elizabeth had her last child, Adam, on 19 February 1841.

On the 6 April 1841 the impoverished Saints laid the cornerstone for a million dollar structure a Temple to the Living God. Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon and a score of Church leaders were gathered, along with the Nauvoo Legion in full uniform and thousands of men, women and children. People gave in labor and money and in provisions and encouragement to build this temple.

While the temple was being constructed some sealing ordinances were performed in the upper story of Joseph Smith's store in Nauvoo. Baptisms for the dead were performed during this time in the Mississippi river. As soon as a portion of the temple was completed the Lord, by revelation, commanded the Saints to cease performing those ordinances outside the proper house.

In 1841 Catherine Eller Stoker made a great contribution to genealogy by having she and some members of her family doing twenty-five baptisms for their dead relatives. Catherine's patriarchal blessing states, "therefore, let your heart be comforted henceforth and forever for the promise is sure and your days shall yet continue for a season and your name shall be perpetuated from generation to generation and handed down in honor by your children until the latest generation." These twenty-five baptisms have made it possible to identify Catherine's family who lived in areas of the United States when few records were kept before and shortly after 1800.

James found there was land to be had in Hancock county, about 15 miles south of Nauvoo. He filed on a homestead and moved there in about 1842. Part of the land was prairie and part timber. James and the boys built a hewed two room log house on the edge of a white oak grove. There was a beautiful spring that ran out a little below the house. They then fenced about 20 acres of land and started getting the ground ready for planting. As soon as they could they built a large log stable with a loft on top to hold hay and fodder for the horses and cows, and a granary and other buildings as needed.

On the 17 March 1842, the women of the church gathered together to organize the "Relief Society". Elizabeth was a member of this organization in Nauvoo. During the first two years they farmed near Nauvoo, while attempts on the part of enemies outside and within the church, were made to bring about the fall and, if possible, the death of the Prophet. It all came to a head in June 1844 when Joseph Smith with his brother Hyrum were arrested and taken to Carthage jail. It was at this jail on the 27 June 1844 that the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith took place.

During the slow times on the farm the three older boys and their father were able to hire out to other farms and make a little extra money. After the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and Patriarch Hyrum Smith in Carthage jail, the young men and their father went to a neighboring county, Pike, to help with harvesting. There their father, James, came down with the intermittent fever and died. Whether this was September 1844 or August 1845 we do not know, probably September 1844 as both John and Catherine wrote that he died in 1844. On the 17 February 1845 James Wilburn was married to Anna Pugh leaving nineteen year old John and seventeen year old Jacob to look after the family.

There was a brief breathing spell for the Saints after the martyrdom but as soon as it was apparent that under new leadership the Saints were as united as ever and nothing had changed, opposition began again. The mob started burning out the Saints. The Welker's were in a settlement ten miles from where they were burning houses, but John and some of his cousins and relatives that lived close by got together and agreed to take turns watching for the mob and doing what they could to protect their homes. The mob never arrived in their area but it kept them alert to what was happening to their friends in town.

On the 22 September 1845 the citizens of Quincy held a mass meeting. A resolution was passed demanding that the removal of the Saints begin at once. A reply came from the Quorum of the Twelve asking to leave them alone until Spring and they would leave. Enemies of the Saints did not wait until Spring. Plundering began anew and continued until the last of the Saints left.

Throughout the winter of 1845-46 work went forward for removal to the Rocky Mountains. Meanwhile work continued on the Nauvoo temple as well as temple work for the living. Elizabeth and her mother received their endowments the 21 January 1846. This continued until most of the Saints had started the long trek West. The temple was privately dedicated by Wilford Woodruff and Orson Hyde and 20 other elders on 30 April 1846. It was publicly dedicated in the presence of about 300 people on l May 1846.

The Welker's started working toward leaving for the west. It was not easy as the land James had filed on had not been approved so they were not able to get anything for it. A man from McDonough county came by and offered a pair of three year old steers and an old U.S. musket for their improvements if they would go to his place and get them. As they did not have team enough to move with they let him have a thousand dollars worth of property for almost nothing.

They had raised a good crop of corn but corn was not selling very well on the market. Corn brought eleven cents a bushel at Warsaw eleven miles away and it had to be shelled. They could not sell it on the cob. This was their only chance to get clothing and provisions to go into the wilderness country.

When they left Nauvoo we do not know. We know that James Wilburn became ill on the way to Council Bluffs and John drove his team for him. We know they were in Council Bluffs on the 22 July 1847 as that is when Wilburn and Anna's first child, Alfred, was born. They would have three more children in Council Bluffs before they would leave for Utah. The family remained in Council Bluffs for around five years in order to get ready for the long trek to Utah. They built a house near a small stream and fenced a small farm on a very rich piece of bottom land.

John had met Roxana Mahala Dustin in Nauvoo, her home was one the enemy set afire but help had come in time to save the home. Love came into the picture and on the 2 April 1850 they were married. He rented his mother-in-law's farm so now Jacob, twenty-one, and Adam, ten, took over the work on the farm. In 1851 both John and his mother-in-law's home was flooded. John lost about everything they had in their home, their crops and many other things. They ended up with a little farm house, a pair of three year old colts, two cows, a hog and a few chickens on which to begin over again. Just a few weeks later their first child, Roxana Louisa, was born on the 20 August 1851.

By the following June 1852, the Welker family was able to leave in the Ninth company that left from Kanesville, Iowa, the middle of June with Isaac M. Stewart as their captain. The Stoker family did not go at this time. We do not know much about the trip to Salt Lake City except that John had one wagon, three cows, three loose cattle and two horses to make the trip. One of Wilburn's sons said they had a cow named "Flower" that made up half of one of their teams and gave the family milk during their journey to Utah.

When they arrived in Utah they were sent to Alpine for the winter. Alpine was a little town about forty miles south of Salt Lake City. We know that James Wilburn's family lived in a dugout in the side of a mountain during that winter and the other families probably did the same. It wast here that two events took place. Adam Pugh, the fifth child of James Wilburn and Anna, was born the 4 February 1853.

On the 27 March, Mary Catherine, Elizabeth's oldest girl then twenty-one years old, was married to Thomas Billington Nelson. Elizabeth's family had now dwindled down to three children Jacob, now twenty-four, Rebecca, nearly eighteen, and Adam, twelve years old.

That spring of 1853 the Welker's were sent to Willard, Box Elder, Utah to live. Again the family had to decide on the property they wished to homestead, start building a home, putting in their crops, etc. James Wilburn Welker started the first molasses mill in town.

In February 1855 when things were going pretty good, Jacob was married to Harriet Angeline Lish. We do not know when Rebecca married Alexander Roswell Stevens but she died in 1863 at the age of twenty-eight. This left Adam at the age of fourteen to care for his mother. Adam was a hard worker. He had been working ever since he was a child and knew all about the work that needed to be done on the farm. He loved his mother very much and took good care of her. He was an active and faithful member of the church.

In 1863 the Dock family from Paisley, Renfrew, Scotland, arrived in town. Robert and Agnes Dock had two girls, Agnes, sixteen, and Euphemia, thirteen, and a son, Robert, five years old. It was not long until Adam and Agnes were enjoying each others company. This was interrupted in 1864 when Adam was called with others to take ox teams to the Missouri River to assist other Mormon Saints on their long journey across the plains to Utah. While Adam was doing this his brother, James Wilburn, decided to go with other Saints to colonize the Bear Lake area in Idaho.

On the 22 February 1865 Adam and Agnes were married. James Wilburn had talked his brother into starting his married life in Idaho. The town they settled was Bloomington, Bear Lake, Idaho. Here the brothers started all over again to find property to homestead, to build a home, clear land, plant crops and put a fence around their property. Elizabeth lived with Adam and Agnes until her death on the 2 January 1868 at the age of sixty-seven.

Written by La Ray Welker

Father: Adam Welker Sr. b: 1772 in Pennsylvania

Mother: Sarah b: about 1771

Marriage 1 Elizabeth Stoker b: 28 Feb 1800 in Ashe, North Carolina, Married: about 1822 in , Jackson, Ohio

Children

David Welker b: 2 Jul 1823 in Henry, Indiana

James Wilburn Welker b: 17 Jan 1825 in Jackson, Ohio

John Welker b: 16 Mar 1826 in Madison, Jackson, Ohio

Jacob Stoker Welker b: 8 Jan 1829 in Bloomfield, Jackson, Ohio

Mary Catherine Welker b: 12 Jan 1832 in Madison Twp, Jackson, Ohio

Susie Welker b: Dec 1834 in Madison, Jackson, Ohio

Rebecca Welker b: 21 Jul 1836 in Jackson, Cape Girardeau, Missouri

Sarah Welker b: 1837 in Jackson, Missouri

Adam David Welker b: 19 Feb 1841 in Columbus, Adams, Illinois

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Following is some information I found on Family Search.org about James Welker:

JAMES WELKER'S LIFE SKETCH BY MARY WELKER DRANEY: My great-grandfather, James Welker, was born 19 August 1803 at Rowan County, North Carolina and died Sept 1844, Hancock County, Illinois. He married Elizabeth Stoker, born 28 Feb 1806, Ashe County North Carolina and died January 1868 in Bloomington, Bear Lake, Idaho.

His father was Adam Welker, Sr., of whom we know very little. We know he owned land in North Carolina, we found two deeds where he sold land, one in 1803 and one in 1830; two deeds for land in Ashe County, North Carolina; one land deed for Ashe County, North Carolina; three deeds in Indiana all for Adam Welker Sr. He was a Quaker. Two of his children are buried in the Quaker Cemetery. Quakers did not believe in the baptism of little children. They believed in baptism by immersion, that is why they were called "Dunker". They did not believe in war, they believed all people should live together in brotherly love. They were very strict in living according to their belief.

We know there are many Welker relatives living in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana, abd many of James Welker's descendants are still living in that area, but as far as we know none of them have ever joined the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints. As far as we know, James Welker was the first member of the Welker family to join the L.D.S. Church. He was converted by the missionaries in that area and baptized in 1834 at Jackson, Ohio.

He lived in Jackson, Ohio, after his marriage until 1835 of '36. Most of his children were born there. His love of the gospel grew in his heart and he wanted to be with the body of the church. He sold all of his property in Ohio and moved to Far West, Missouri. There he filed claim on a homestead and with the help of all his family they built a new home. They cleared and fenced their land, built a large two room house of logs, a log barn and other buildings. They lived there about four years. Their land was planted and their crops were good and they were just beginning to feel a little security and comfort in their new home when mobocracy and persecution of the saints began.

The mobs took his best horses and other animals leaving him with just three old horses they did not want. All his crops were destroyed except a small portion of his corn. They had to shell this by hand to be able to sell it and then only received eleven cents a bushel for it. The money they received was used to buy clothing for the children to use on the trip. Mobbings continued until Governor Lillburn Boggs sent his large army and took all firearms and ammunition away from the little handful of saints and they were forced out of the state. They had to leave in March and there was a lot of ice, snow and mud on the ground they had to travel through, sleeping on the ground at night. Some of his children made their own shoes out of saddle skirts and the upper parts of the boots they were able to make using wooden pegs in the place of nails. Their persecutions and privations were almost unbearable and their complaints few.

James Welker was taking care of three families, his own, a grandmother, and a brother's family. They were able to catch a few pigs after the mob left and they had salvaged a little corn. This they used for food, boiled corn and a little pork, no flour. Their land was not proved up on so they could not sell it.

He and all his family were well acquainted with the Prophet Joseph Smith and loved him dearly. The Prophet and several of the other church leaders were held in the Richmond Jail in Missouri while they lived there, but the people were unable to help them because of the mobs.

They left Far West with three old horses hitched to an old wagon that was all that the mob had left for them. The wagon was packed with the most essential things they needed, bedding, food and clothing. The rest was left for the mob. The wagon being full most of them had to walk all the way. They crossed Missouri and went over into Illinois, camping on the east bank of the Mississippi River. They were in very destitute circumstances when they arrived in Illinois, no food no money and very little clothing.

A few days after they arrived a noble hearted man came to their camp. His name was Coleman Wilkes. He could see their sufferings . He asked them how many people there were then told them he had a large farm and a large house. "His wife had died", and he would like them to come with him and he would give them a home, food and clothing if the women would take care of the house and the men would help him on the farm. This was the answer to their prayers and they were very thankful for this great blessing. He took all three families home with him and they lived together very happily for about three years, except for the grandmother, and she was able to find a place close by in which to live. Mr. Wilkes was very kind and considerate to them, almost like a father. He lived two miles south of Columbus in Adams County, Illinois.

About three years after they moved to Illinois, James Welker found there was land that could be entered in Hancock County, Illinois about 15 miles south of Nauvoo. He moved there and filed on a homestead. Part of it was farming land and part was timber. They also knew it would require a lot of heavy work to clear the land and prepare it for farming. James Welker loved his family very much and they were very considerate of each other. They all worked together using all their strength and ability to make a new home. They built and large two-roomed log hewed house at the edge of a white oak grove. There was a beautiful little spring that ran out a little below the house. They also built a log barn with a loft to keep their hay in a granary and other buildings. They cleared, fenced and planted 20 acres in corn. This seemed to be their main crop in that area. They worked very hard to make a new home where they could live in peace; but were not to be, the mobbings, burnings and persecutions had already started to rage again.

Even so they did not loose faith in the gospel, for they knew Satan was the evil force behind all their persecutions and their love for the Lord grew. There were few complaints In the spring of 1844, the mobs were trying to get something against the Prophet Joseph Smith so they could convict him and stop the progress of the church. Once again the mobs were burning the homes of the saints. Crops were destroyed. They also took the crops that were harvested and their cattle. The saints were left again without food or shelter. Their suffering was beyond description. It makes my heart ache to write about it. The devil was sure busy.

James Welker was not far from the Carthage jail at the time the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were martyred, but could do nothing to help them. Some of his sons had been previously mustered under the command of the Prophet to help protect the saints. After the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith on 27 June 1844, the mob destruction and persecutions became more sever until finally the saints were driven right out of the State of Illinois.

James Welker was a religious, honest, hard-working man but using all his strength and ability to make a home for his family also the trials and persecutions they were forced to go through was more than he could stand. In the fall of 1844 he and his sons went to Pikes County to work during the harvest season, but his health was broken and his body under nourished and weak from over work he developed a cold and it turned to pneumonia. He died September 1844, in Hancock County, Illinois. He truly gave his life for his love of the gospel, willingly and without any complaints. I wonder if his descendants would be willing to do as much for the Gospel today.

As he died to help establish and organize the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints upon the earth in this the last dispensation "Of the Fullness of Time" so let we the descendents of James Welker live that we may be worthy to join him in his Heavenly Mansion when our lives are finished on this earth. May our faith increase, our love for the gospel grow and may we ever strive to help continue the Lords work here on this earth that he gave his life to help organize in these the Last Days.

Elizabeth Stoker born 28 February 1806, Ashe County, North Carolina and died 2 January 1868, Bloomington, Bear Lake, Idaho, wife of James Welker, walked side by side with him through all their trials and tribulations. They strengthened and encouraged each other all through their lives with love and understanding. Her life was very lonely after his death; their youngest son was just three years old when her husband died. She and her family crossed the plains and came to Utah in 1852. Her two oldest sons were married before they started across the plains, James Wilburn Welker married Agnes Dock and John Welker married Roxana Dustin. They settled in Bountiful, Utah, which at that time was called Willow Creek, for a few years and then moved to Bloomington, Bear Lake, Idaho. Elizabeth Stoker lived in Bloomington until her death and was buried in the Bloomington Cemetery.

James Welker and Elizabeth Stoker were the parents of nine children named as follows:

David Welker born 2 July 1823 – died as a child

James Wilburn Welker born 12 Jan 1825

John Welker born March 16, 1826

Jacob Stoker Welker 8 Jan 1829

Mary Catherine Welker born 12 Jan 1832

Susie Welker born 1834 died as a child

Rebecca Welker born 21 July 1835

Sarah Welker born 1837 died as a child

Adam Welker born 19 Feb 1841

George W. E. Smith, a descendent of Adam Welker Jr. says Adam Welker Sr. was born in Ireland. His father may have been one of the Palatines from Germany that were sent to Ireland to work in the Spinning Mills but haven't been able to prove it. Adam Welker Sr. and Sarah Fletcher Welker's children that we have record of are as follows:

Mary "Polly" Welker born 1798 or 1799 (may have been the child of Nancy Fletcher, Sarah's sister)

James Welker born 19 Aug 1803

Adam Welker Jr. born 1806

Ellen Welker 1808

William Welker 1812

According to the records Adam Welker Sr. was living in North Carolina 1810; in Jackson County, Ohio in 1819; in Indiana in 1830. Sons of immigrants were treated very badly. Great promises were made to them in the old counties to get them to come to the United States but never kept after they landed here. They moved around trying to find a place where they could live according to their religious beliefs and make a living for their families.