Susan Caroline Welker

From Ronald Ackroyd Smith:

Susan Caroline Stevenson smoked a corncob pipe until her death. She made the trek to Nauvoo where her mother Mary "Polly " Pugh died from giving birth. Her father took off to Michigan where he died. Susan Caroline, however, crossed the plains with her aunt Annie Pugh Welker and later became the second wife of James Wilburn Welker, who was Susan's aunt Annie Pugh's husband. James and Annie were married in Hancock, Illinois, on February 23, 1845. They came to Utah in 1853 in the Isaac Stewart Company of Pioneer Saints. They had 9 children.

SOURCE: http://smithhistory.org/getperson.php?personID=I247&tree=tsmith

In the 1850 U.S. Federal Census for District 22, Fremont, Iowa, Susan was living with her father and siblings who were listed in the census record as follows: Isaac H., 45, Martha, 20, Prior, 20, Susan, 18, Eliza Ann, 16, Stewart, 15, Harris, 13, Francis, 23, Archibald, 9. Also living in their home was a John Savage, 18, listed as a farmer. Isaac, Prior and Stewart were also working as farmers. Susan's mother had passed away May 28, 1846, five days after the birth of her last child, Isaac Henderson Stephenson, Jr., born May 23, 1846 and died May 31, 1846, in Nauvoo, Illinois.

At some point, Susan married Basil Riley Young, and they had one daughter, Alice Ann Young, who was born October 28, 1857, in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. Basil must have passed away, and Susan went to Utah, although I don't know in what Mormon Pioneer company she traveled, although it seems unlikely she went with her aunt, Anna Pugh Welker, in the Isaac Stewart Company of 1853, since Susan had her daughter, Alice, in Chicago, in 1857. Anna Pugh Welker was Susan's mother, Mary Polly Pugh's younger sister. Mary was born in 1806 and Anna in 1820 or 1821.

Some Ancestry.com records also indicate that Susan may have previously had another daughter with Basil Riley Young, Mary Eliza Young, in 1855, who was born in Beaver Island, Charlevoix, Michigan, and died there as well. One record shows Susan and Basil were married in 1854. Perhaps Susan went to Michigan to visit her father who moved there after the death of her mother, and Susan met and married her husband Basil there. Susan's father, Isaac Henderson Stephens, born in 1805 in Jefferson County, Tennessee, died in Beaver Island, Michigan on January 28, 1853, just 6 years after his wife Mary passed away. I'm not sure when Susan's first husband Basil passed away, but it must have been sometime after their second daughter, Mary Eliza, was born in 1855.

I'm not sure where Susan was living from 1855 to 1863, but she was married as a plural wife to James Wilburn Welker (her aunt Anna Pugh Welker's husband) on either June 20, 1863 or February 27, 1864, in Salt Lake City. Different sources show two different marriage dates for Susan and James. Susan and James had 8 children, 3 sons and 5 daughters, the last two being twin girls, who sadly died in 1881 from diphtheria, along with two of her other children.

James served as a Bishop, and as an alternate high councilor. He had been a member of the Nauvoo Legion, and was living in Alpine, Utah in 1853, then moved to Willard, Utah, and Bloomington, Idaho in 1863. James was noted for erecting one of the first sawmills at Bloomington.

In the 1870 U.S. Federal Census for Bloomington, Bear Lake (then Rich County), Idaho, dated July 22nd, Susan was living next door to her plural husband, James Wilburn Welker, who was married to her aunt, Annie Pugh Welker. Susan, 37, was living with her children, Alice, (the daughter of her previous husband Mr. Young), 12, Isabella, 5, Evaline, 4, Sarah, 2, and Marion, 6 months old. Living next door with James Wilburn Welker, 45, and his first wife, Annie, 49, and their children, James A., 19, Adam, 17, Gilbert, 15, Wilbern, 13, Ephraim, 10, and Rebecca, 6. James Wilburn Welker was working as a blacksmith and his real estate was valued at $500 and his personal estate at $800.

Next door on the other side was Harvey Alvaro Dunn, 21, and his wife, Hettie, 21 (James Wilburn Welker and Annie Pugh Welker's daughter, and their son, Harvey A., Jr., one year old.

Next door to them was George 32, and Georgianna Osmond, 33, and their children, Clara, 14, George, 12, Alfred, 9, Rosa, 7, Ira, 5, and Ida 1. George and Georgianna were the great-great grandparents of Donny and Marie Osmond, the singing duo from the 1970's.

Next door to them was John Welker, 44, James Wilburn Welker's brother, (and my 3rd great grandfather) and John's wife, Roxanna Mahala Dustin Welker, 36, and their two children, Roxanna Louisa, 19, and John Eller, 17. Also living in their home was Rebecca Malinda Stephens, 11, (John's niece and the daughter of his sister Rebecca Welker Stephens, who had passed away in 1863 shortly after the birth of her 5th child), and Levi J. Dustin, 5, Roxanna Mahala Dustin Welker's nephew. His mother had also passed away, and he was sent to live with his aunt and uncle, probably because they only had 2 children of their own.

Next door to them was Christian Madsen, 24, (my 2nd great grandfather,) and his wife, Roxanna Louisa, 18, and their daughter, Dortha Roxanna, one year old. Oddly, Roxanna Louisa was listed in the census record living in both her parents and her husband's home, first as being 19 years old (in her parents home) and a second time as being 18 years old (in her husband's home). Why she was listed twice is unknown, since Roxanna Louisa and Christian were married in October of 1867 by George Q. Cannon in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. George Q. Cannon was an apostle of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In the 1880 U.S. Census for Bloomington, Bear Lake, Idaho, dated June 13th, Susan, 48, was listed with her children, Isabella J., 15, Susan E., 14, Francis M., 10, Sarah, 12, Harrison A., 7, Abraham, 5, Catherine, 3 and Caroline, 3 years old. Two doors down was her husband, James Wilburn Welker, 55, his wife, Annie, 59, and their children, Wilburn, 23, Ephraim, 20, and Rebecca Ann, 16. James was working as a farmer. A few doors down was James' brother, John Welker, 50, his wife, Roxanna M., 46, and their nephew, Levi J. Dustin, 14. Next door was their son, John Eller Welker, 26, and his wife, Sarah Ann Thornock Welker, 24, and their two children, Sarah, 4, and John P., 2. John Welker was working as a farmer and his son John Eller as a laborer.

A few doors down was James Albert Welker, 29, James Wilburn's son, and his wife, Ingar, 25, (John Christian Madsen's sister, Inger Marie Madsen), and their daughter, Clara, 3, and son James A., 9 months old. Next door was Adam Pugh Welker, 24, (son of James Wilburn and Annie Pugh Welker), and his wife, Clara Osmond Welker, 23, and their son Anson, 1 year old.

Sadly, four of Susan's children died from diphtheria in 1881, including 14 year old Susan, 11 year old Francis Marion, and her two youngest twin daughters, Catherine Almira and Caroline Alvira, who were only 4 years old at the time of their deaths.

By 1883, many of the Welker, Madsen, Dustin and Stevens families left Bloomington, Idaho, and moved to Safford, Arizona. John Welker and his younger brother, Adam, and their families were among those who made the move, but James Wilburn Welker and his families stayed in Idaho. James's first wife, and Susan's aunt, Anna Pugh Welker, born January 21, 1821, passed away August 9, 1893, in Bloomington, Bear Lake, Idaho, and was buried in the Bloomington Cemetery. Anna's father, Daniel Pugh, had been born 1782 in England and came to America in 1843 and settled first in North Carolina. Her mother, Martha Harris, was born in 1787, in North Carolina, and died in Utah in 1853, per Find A Grave.com Memorial #38426813 for Anna.

Sadly, Susan Eveline Welker, James and Susan's second oldest daughter, passed away in 1898, in Moreland, Idaho. She was only 32 years old at the time of her death, and left 7 children under the age of 12 years old. At that time, only their daughter Isabelle Jane Welker Ackroyd and their two sons, Harris and Abraham were still living, and Isabelle was probably already living in Canada.

By the 1900 U.S. Federal Census for Bloomington, Bear Lake, Idaho, taken on the 11th of June, James, 75, and Susan, 68, and their two living sons, Harrison A., 28, and Abraham, 24, were living next door to Gilbert Welker, 44, James' son with Annie, and Gilbert's wife, Charlotte, 42, and their children Mary S., 16, Lawrence, 23, Albert 10, Bardella, 8, Carson, 6, Alfred, 4, and Laura, 1 year old.

In a 1906 Canadian Census for Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta it that a James Welker, 81, and Susan Welker, 75, were living there with their sons, Harris, 31, and Abraham, 28, and that they had come to Canada in 1902. Why they had been living in Canada for 4 years is unknown, although their daughter Isabell Jane married Walter William Ackroyd in 1885 Bloomington, Bear Lake, Idaho, and they both died in Canada, Walter in 1924 in Magrath, Alberta, Canada, and Isabelle Jane in 1942 in Cardston, Alberta, Canada. They were both buried in Magrath, Alberta, Canada.

According to Find A Grave.com, Susan Caroline Stephenson Welker passed away September 22, 1907, in Magrath, Alberta, Canada. James Wilburn Welker passed away less than 5 years later on May 4, 1912, in Bloomington, at the age of 87 and was buried in the Bloomington Cemetery, with his first wife, Anna Pugh Welker. James must have returned to Idaho from Canada after the death of his plural wife, Susan.

Susan's remaining children, Alice, Harris and Abraham passed away in 1923, 1927 and 1925 respectively. Alice was living in Swan Lake, Idaho, when she passed away, Harris was living in Salt Lake City when he died, and Abraham's place of death is unknown.