Joseph Anderson West

The photograph above of Joseph Anderson West was found on Ancestry.com, and under the Media Tab above there is another photo depicting John Anderson West and Mary Jane Robinson West's children living with them at the time. On the other photo, their daughters, Mary and Susan, are pictured on the left and right, seated, and their sons are in the back row standing, left to right, Joseph Anderson, Samuel Ezra, Wilford Cooper, William Heber and Moroni Edward. I would estimate that the date of this photo was probably about 1910, or possibly a little later. Their mother, Mary Jane Robinson West, passed away in 1914, and father, John Anderson West in 1917. They were both buried in Salt Lake City, Utah.

A short documentary for a Utah History Class of Parowan, Utah, found on Ancestry.com talks about Joseph Anderson West's father, John Anderson West (1830-1917) and his family, including John's father, Samuel Walker West (1804-1873) who were some of the original settlers of Parowan, Utah, in the 1850's. Also mentioned in the video is George Albert Smith, who was John Anderson West's brother-in-law. George Albert Smith (1817-1875) was an Apostle in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, cousin to Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the church, and was married to John's sister, Susan Elizabeth West (1833-1026). A cousin of George Albert Smith, and Joseph Smith, Jr., (the founder of the Mormon Church), was Jesse Nathaniel Smith, and he married two other West sisters, Emma Seraphine and Margaret Fletcher West.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P5k8YSiRwY

In the 1870 U. S. Federal Census for Parowan, Iron county, Utah Territory, Joseph Anderson West was 2 years old and living with his parents, John Anderson West, 39, and Mary Jane Robinson West, 21, and his older siblings and half-siblings, Elizabeth, Martha J., John Anderson West, Jr., 4, Samuel West, 4, and William H. West, 10 months. Living next door was his Aunt Emma Seraphine West and her husband, Jesse Nathaniel Smith. The census record is very hard to read, however, so no additional details can be gained from the actual census page.

By the 1880 U.S. Census, John Anderson West and his wife Mary Jane Robinson, had moved to Snowflake, Apache County, Arizona. I believe they moved there in 1879 along with many other Mormon Pioneers from Utah who were requested by the Mormon Church to settle this area of Arizona. In this census, John, 49, Mary Jane, 32, and their children were listed as, Samuel, 14, Joseph, 12, William Heber, 10, and Moroni E., 8, were sharing their home with two "boarders", Sarah H. West, 16, and Martha J. West, 10, who were both born in North Carolina. I don't know how or if they were related to the rest of the John Anderson West family.

Next door was John's sister, Emma West Smith, 44, and her husband Jesse Nathaniel Smith, 45, and their children, Jesse N., Jr., 19, Sarah E., 14, Silas D., 12, John W., 8 and Samuel F., 6. Next door to Emma and Jesse was one of Jesse Nathaniel Smith's plural wives, Augusta Outzen, 26, who was from Denmark, and her children, Georgiana B., 9, Augusta G., 7, and Martha A., 2. Next door to Augusta was another of Jesse's plural wives, Janet M. Johnson, 31, and her children, Susan J., 11, Sariah A., 7, Julia J., 4, Priscilla, 3, and Editha, 1. Both John Anderson West and Jesse Nathaniel Smith were listed as Farmers. John's sons Samuel, Joseph W., and William Heber were listed as laborers. I believe some of the John Anderson West family moved back to Utah in about 1898 because by 1900 he was listed in the Utah Census with his wife Mary Jane and a couple of their daughters. John Anderson West's first wife, Betsy Fish West, and their children had not lived with John Anderson West since the 1860's in Parowan, Utah, but they were living nearby in Utah in 1900.

There is no census record for 1890, and I found no listing for Joseph West in the 1900 or 1910 census, but by the 1920 U.S. Federal Census, Joseph West was married to Lois West and living in Salt Lake City, Utah. They were listed in the census record as follows: Joseph, 52, Lois, 44, and their children, Mary, 22, Regina, 19, Edna, 14, Jack, 13, Venice, 10 and Lois, 8. They were renting a home located at 1251 4th Avenue and Joseph's occupation was as a manager of a clothing store. His daughter Mary was working as a stenographer in a railroad office. All of the other children were at home. Their next door neighbor, Joseph Monson, 57, and his wife Laura, 59, were from Norway, and Mr. Monson was an architect for the railroad.

By the 1930 U.S. Federal Census, Joseph West and his family had moved to Los Angeles, California, and were living in a home they owned which was valued at $35,000.00, located at 5011 South Main Street. This may have been an apartment building or a multi-family home because other family members were living there with the West family.

At the time, Joseph, 62, and Lois, 54, and three of their daughters were living there, including: Regina, 26, Venice, 19, and Lois, 16. Regina had married a Mr. Watts, but was divorced. Joseph was the proprietor of a mortgage and loan company, Regina was a public school teacher, and Venice was a secretary at the Union Pacific Railroad Doctor's Office.

In the 1940 U.S. Federal Census for Los Angeles, California, Joseph Anderson West, 73, and his wife Lois Hunt West, 65, were living at the same home located at 5011 South Main Street, along with some of their extended family including their daughter Mary Tanner, 42, (who was divorced from Mr. Tanner), and her two daughters, Dorothy L., 12, and Donna M. 10, who were both born in California; their daughter, Edna, who was married to Merlin R. Sant, (they were both 35 years old), and their 8-year old son Roger; and their youngest daughter, Lois, 27, and her husband Theodore Paulos, 28, and their daughter, Camille, 5.

At the same address was Clifford Robert Woods, 53, and his 3 daughters, Edna May, 15, Gertrude M., 14, and Shirley Aloha, 12, but no wife was listed for Clifford. I'm not sure how he was connected to the West family, but his profession was listed as a house painter.

Ted Paulos was working as a route salesman for a bottled water company, and Merlin R. Sant as a contracting carpenter in the building trade. At the time, Joseph was listed as an insurance agent for a fire insurance company, although I read recently in his daughter Venice's obituary that he was the long time Bishop of the LDS Church in the Adams Ward of Los Angeles.

Ironically, my uncle, James Rollins Eubank (1915-2004) was baptized in that church in 1924. Maybe his relative, Joseph Anderson West, was the person who baptized him. Although I'm not certain when the West family left Utah and moved to California. We know that their oldest daughter, Mary West Tanner had a daughter, Dorothy Louise, born in California in 1928, but the family could have moved to California even before 1928.

In the 1940 census it stated that all of the family members were living at the same address at 5011 South Main Street in 1935, except for Mary West Tanner and her two daughters, Dorothy Louise and Donna Mae, who were living in Santa Ana, Orange County, California, probably during the time she was married to her husband, Jacob Carlisle Tanner.

The Millennium File for Joseph Anderson West shows that he was born October 5, 1867, in Parowan, Utah, and died in Glendora, Los Angeles County, California, on July 29, 1947. He married his wife Lois Hunt in Snowflake, Navajo County, Arizona on May 5, 1897. The record lists Joseph's parents as John Anderson West and Mary Jane Robinson, and Lois' parents as John Hunt and Lois Barnes Pratt. Unfortunately that is all I know about my cousin, Joseph Anderson West and his family. Although I did find a few additional records for his daughters:

Regina West-Watts arrived in New York City, New York, on August 15, 1953, on the ship "Georgic" from Southampton, England. She was 51 years old at this time, and was living at 901 S. Kingsley Drive, Los Angeles. A U.S. Public Records Index listing for Regina West Watts indicated that she was living at 61 Calle Cadiz, Laguna Hills, California 92637-8511. The California Death Index showed she died in Orange County, California, on June 7, 1995, which was about a month and a half before my mother passed away on July 21, 1995.

Regina's sister, Venice, attended the University of California at Berkeley, got a degree in philosophy, and was at one time living in San Francisco at 825 Geary Street, Apt. #802. She married Charles Simpson on August 1, 1932. In 1935 Venice and Charles were living at 546 Washington Avenue, Palo Alto, and Charles was listed as a chemist. In the 1937 city directory they were living at 945 Pine Street in San Francisco and Charles Simpson was a clerk at the Pacific Coast Labor Bureau.

In the 1940 U.S. Federal Census, Venice, 29, was living in Seattle, King County, Washington, with her husband Charles, 30, in a home located at 1409 37th Street. They both had achieved a 4-year college education. Charles was working as an economic counselor for a labor union. They had their two sons, Richard and Ronald, while they were living in Seattle.

By 1954, they were living at 1680 Bryant Street, Palo Alto, and Charles was listed as C. Jerry Simpson, but no occupation was shown for him. In 1955, Venice and C. Jerry Simpson were living at at the same address and he was working in labor relations for the National Labor Bureau in San Francisco.

In 1956 Venice was living at 345 Forest, Apt. 410 in Palo Alto, but this record indicates that she was the widow of C.J. Simpson, which must be incorrect, because in 1957 both of them were again living at 1680 Bryant, Palo Alto, and Charles was listed as economic counsel at the National Labor Bureau.

In 1959, they were still living at 1680 Bryant in Palo Alto and Charles was still employed as the economic counsel at the National Labor Bureau in San Francisco. I don't know where they lived for the next 40 years, from 1960 to the turn of the century in 2000, but Venice passed away in 2005, and was buried in Mount Tamalpais Cemetery, San Rafael, Marin County, California, in Plot: Section 39, Garden of Prayer.

I'm sorry I never got a chance to know her or visit her when I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area from 1978 to 1981, if she was living there at the time. However, according to her U.S. Social Security Death Index record her last residence was in Provo, Utah. So she returned to her roots in Utah sometime before she passed away. There was also a public record for Venice living at 3596 Acoma Street, Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1995, and at 812 S. 890 E. Orem, Utah, also in 1995.

Joseph's youngest daughter, Lois, attended Brigham Young University and later married Theodore Paulos; they had at least one daughter, Camille, born in 1935. Lois died in October of 1977, and one of her last known residences before she died was in San Clemente, Orange County, California. The California Death Index showed that she was born December 18, 1911, in Utah. Her Find A Grave.com record showed that she was buried in the Green Hills Memorial Park, Rancho Palos Verdes, Los Angeles County, California, in Plot: Sunrise Slope, 160 D.

Lois and Theodore Paulos' daughter, Camille, was born Joan Camille Paulos December 23, 1934, in Los Angeles. She attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and was shown in the 1954 and 1957 issues of the BYU Banyan Yearbook found on Ancestry.com. Camille married Carl George Jennings, September 18, 1957, also in Los Angeles, California. They had two sons named Paul Ward Jennings and Stephen Carl Jennings.