Tryphena Jane West

Tryphenia Jane Hobbs, arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on 15 October 1863 as part of the Samuel D. White Company, with two sisters. About 300 individuals were in the company when it began its journey, 15 August 1863, from the outfitting post at Florence, Nebraska (now Omaha). Other family members arrived on different companies.

Tryphenia was the daughter of William Down Hobbs and Mary Ann Pope. Her siblings were William, Mary and Emma Hobbs. She married William Moroni West May 27, 1868, at the age of 21 in Parowan, Iron County, Utah. He was the son of Samuel Walker West and his wife Margaret Cooper West of Tennessee. They had been converted to The Church of Latter-Day Saints in the early 1830's while still living in Tennessee. After that they moved in about 1842 to Kentucky to live with Samuel's widowed mother. William Moroni West was born there, and by 1844 the family had moved to Nauvoo, Illinois, where the LDS Church was building up a large community.

After Joseph Smith, the leader of the church, was killed along with his brother Hyrum in Nauvoo, the church appointed a new leader, Brigham Young, and the body of the church began planning their exodus from Illinois to Utah, which started in about 1848, after living for a few years in Council Bluffs, Nebraska. They lived for a while in Parowan, Utah.

In the 1870 U.S. Federal Census for Parowan, listed were William M., 27, Tryphena, 23, and their daughter, Tryphena Annie, 9 months old. William was working as a farmer and Tryphena was keeping house. William was born in Kentucky, Tryphena in England and their daughter in Parowan, Utah. They had two more children, Margaret in 1871 and William Moroni, Jr., in 1873. But sadly, William, Sr., died while on a trip to search for some cattle and horses that had been stolen from some people in Parowan. Following is an excerpt from his obituary which describes what happened to him:"

"On January 17, 1874, in company with the sheriff of Iron County and others, William started westward in search of some cattle and horses, said to have been stolen from Parowan people, and on the fourth day out was taken ill with pain in the bowels, but still he desired to go on with the company, which he did till the seventh day, when inflammation set in and the company halted at a deserted claim house, in Patterson District, Nevada, and proceeded to nurse him with all possible care.

On February 2nd, he seemed better, and they started for his home in Parowan, but on the 3rd he turned worse and died at 8 PM. On the 6th they reached home and funeral services were held on the 7th, a large concourse of people being in attendance."

This pain and inflammation was probably an appendix attack, which could have easily been treated today!

Tryphena did not remarry after William's death. By the 1880 census, Tryphena was a 32-year old widow, living in Parowan with her three children, Tryphena Annie, 10, Margaret Alice, 9, and William Moroni West, Jr., 7. Sadly, her son, William Moroni West, Jr., passed away in 1898. He had married Ellen Francetta Westbrook on October 7, 1896, and they had two children, Helen "Nellie" and Maud before William, Jr., passed away. His daughter Maud died in 1917, but Helen lived until 1991 and passed away in San Diego, California, when she was 97 years old. She had married Erastus Snow Riding on May 27, 1915, and they had four known children: Peggy, Robert Thomas, Van W., and S. Gerald. Erastus died in 1958. Helen later married Raymond Clyde Morgan.

By 1900, Tryphena, 52, was living with her daughter, Annie, 30, and they were still in Parowan. Tryphena was working as the County Recorder. Her daughter was not working. They were still living together in Parowan in 1910 and they owned their home free from a mortgage. Neither of them were listed as having an occupation. In the 1920 census, they were still together in Parowan and neither of them were working. I did not find a census record for them in 1930. There was a newspaper article about her as shown below:

Parowan Times, April 6, 1934: Mrs. Tryphenia West continued to suffer a lot from a nervous disorder in her face for which she was treated at the county hospital last week. Mrs. West is nearly eighty-seven years old and has been weakened very much by her suffering."

Tryphena passed away two years later at the age of 88 years, 11 months and 19 days old on April 10, 1936, and was buried in the Parowan City Cemetery. The following obituary was found for her on Find A Grave.com.

Parowan Times, Apr. 17 1936 - FUNERAL SERVICES HELD FOR AGED PAROWAN LADY:

Funeral services were held last Sunday afternoon for Mrs. Tryphena West, aged resident of this city, whose death was chronicled last week. The services were held in the East ward chapel with Bishop W.L. Adams in charge, and commenced by the choir singing "How Gentle God's Commands". The music was under the direction of Ray D. Garner with Itha M. Mortensen at the piano. The opening prayer was offered by Thomas D. Adams following which the choir sang "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" with Rex C. Ward singing the solo.

Speakers were S.A. Matheson and Walter C. Mitchell, each of whom told of their long association with the deceased, of her trials and suffering and of her staunch faith in the LDS Church. Bishop Adams made a few appropriate remarks at the close of the services and expressed the family's thanks to kind friends and neighbors for assistance rendered during their time of sorrow.

Rex C. Ward and Lola Dalton sang "I Know My Heavenly Father Knows" with Glenna M. Ward at the piano, and Mr. and Mrs. Wm. M. Dalton sang "Whispering Hope" with Itha M. Mortensen at the piano. John W. Bentley offered the closing prayer and at the cemetery the grave was dedicated by __________.

Four grand sons, Edward, Ray, Wesley and Douglas, and two grand sons in-law, Dan Baudino and Walter Thompson were the pallbearers.

Transcribed for this memorial by Cracraft Proud.

Parents:

William Down Hobbs (1814 - 1899)

Mary Ann Pope Hobbs (1815 - 1899)

Spouse:

William Moroni West (1844 - 1874)

Children:

Annie Tryphena West (1869 - 1954)

Margaret Alice West Bentley (1871 - 1910)

William Moroni West (1873 - 1898)

Burial: Parowan City Cemetery, Parowan, Iron County, Utah, USA, Plot: 04-01-03

Maintained by: mommycita

Originally Created by: Cracraft Proud

Record added: Sep 08, 2005

Find A Grave Memorial# 11706009

The following was posted on Ancestry.com by Dan Craw a descendant of Tryphena and William:

Tryphena has a second Ancestral File Number: 1SCM-Q7 Sealing Spouse: Mar 1995 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/library/pioneercompany/0,15797,401...