Margaret Jane Kartchner

Margaret Jane Casteel was the daughter of Jacob and Sarah Knowlin Casteel and the first wife of William Decatur Kartchner. She and her young family were commemorated as one of the first 2090 Pioneers to enter Utah [from summer 1847 thru summer 1848 as part of the company commonly known as the "Mississippi Saints"] on page 241 in "E.L. Sloan & Co Utah Gazetteer and City Directory for 1884 (Pioneer Section)". Margaret Jane Casteel was born in Cooper County, Missouri, in 1825. Margaret was baptized when she was thirteen and by the time she was seventeen the family had moved to Nauvoo, Illinois. Here she met William Decatur Kartchner, and they were married 17 Mar 1844.

They had been married six months when they were asked to go up the Missouri River and plant crops in anticipation of the Saints moving to the West. It was a hard trip and many times they were without food and other rations. Many of the company left to go back to Iowa City. Margaret and William stayed the winter with his brother, John, then in 1846 they joined the Mississippi Saints and traveled with them to Pueblo, Colorado. Here her first child was born. All this time William was suffering from rheumatism, and it was hard for him to prepare the wagons for the trip. Finally in 1847 they got to Fort Laramie just three days behind Brigham Young and the first company of Saints. They arrived in the Valley 28 Jul 1847.

The first winter they suffered much for the want of food, but the second year was much better. In 1850 they were called to go with Amasa Lyman to San Bernardino, California to settle. They were there until 1857 when they were called home because of the Utah War. They stayed in Beaver, Utah for a time, then into Nevada, and lastly into Arizona, finally settling in Snowflake, Arizona. With each move Margaret cared for her children, raised chickens, carded and spun wool, made cloth, put up fruit, etc. Margaret took part in Church activities, and was a skilled midwife.

In 1881 Margaret was stricken with a severe pain in her head and a bad cough. She continued to get worse, until she died on 11 August 1881.

Thank you Melva Johnson for the Cemetery name. This cemetery is also known as the Snowflake Cemetery

Parents:

Jacob Isreal Casteel (1797 - 1860)

Sarah Knowlin Casteel (1799 - 1892)

Spouse:

William Decatur Kartchner (1820 - 1892)*

Children:

Sarah Emma Kartchner Miller (1846 - 1934)

William Ammon Kartchner (1848 - 1852)

Prudence Jane Kartchner Flake (1850 - 1896)

John Kartchner (1851 - 1946)

Mark Elisha Kartchner (1853 - 1939)

James Peter Kartchner (1855 - 1858)

Mary Marinda Kartchner Clayton (1860 - 1919)

Nowlin Decatur Kartchner (1862 - 1927)

Orrin Kartchner (1864 - 1961)

Euphemia Ardimonia Kartchner (1867 - 1868)

Maintained by: Kartchner Brothers

Originally Created by: Deborah Ballard Anderson

Record added: Mar 27, 2001

Find A Grave Memorial# 5322698

Below is from another source, In Our Own Words: the Lives of Arizona Pioneer Women, by Barbara Marriott:

Mary Jane Casteel was born September 1, 1825, in Cooper County, Missouri. Her parents were Jacob Israel Casteel and Sarah Nowlin Casteel. There may have been more than the six children whose names are known but there were six brothers and sisters at least. Their names were Mary (St. Mary), Emmeline (Savage), Margaret (Kartchner), James, Joshua, and Francis Steven, called "Frank", who made a journey down the Missouri River, supposedly to Texas and never returned. His fate was never known and this was a great source for mourning by his mother and brothers and sisters.

The Casteel blood was of French extraction with mixtures of English, Scotch and Irish. They were evidently of devout Christian faith, for Margaret's father's family consisted of eight brothers and one sister were given bible names throughout. They were: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Israel, Shadrack, Meschach, Abednego, Daniel, Benjamin, and Mary.

Very little is known of Margaret's life until she was eighteen years of age, when she married William Decatur Kartchner, on March 17, 1844, in the city of Nauvoo, Illinois.

• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: May 4 2017, 18:22:39 UTC