William Heber West

The above photo was found on Ancestry.com and shows John Anderson West and his second wife, Mary Jane Robinson West with their children, including, back row, left to right, sons Joseph Anderson, Samuel Ezra, Wilford Cooper, William Heber and Moroni Edward. In the center seated are John and Mary Jane, and the two women in front are their daughters, Mary and Susan. The photo was probably taken sometime between 1910 and 1914, since Mary Jane passed away in 1914.

William Heber West was born August 10, 1869, in Utah John Anderson West and Mary Jane Robinson West. Mary Jane was John's plural wife, since he was a Mormon polygamist. In the 1870 U.S. Federal Census for the Utah Territory, District 7, Parowan, enumerated on the 19th of June, William Heber was 10 months old, living with his parents and siblings: John Anderson West, 39, Mary Jane Robinson West, 21, and perhaps John's children from his marriage to his first wife, Betsy Jane Fish West, including Elizabeth, 9, Nanette and Martha J., both 11, and John Anderson West, 4, and John and Mary Jane's children, Samuel Ezra West, 4, Joseph Anderson West, 2.

John Anderson West and his first wife, Betsy Jane Fish were married in Iron County, Utah, May 19,1854. Betsy Jane Fish was born August 8, 1836 in Canada, and died August 23, 1919, in Darlington, Butte County, Idaho. They separated sometime around 1870. Mary Jane Robinson West, John's plural wife, was born October 24, 1848, in Farmington, Davis County, Utah, and died August 15, 1914, in Salt Lake city, Utah. They were married in 1865. John outlived Mary Jane by three years, but Betsy Jane Fish West outlived John by two years.

In the 1880 U.S. Federal Census, part of the West Family was living in Snowflake, Apache County, Arizona, and were listed as: John Anderson West, 49, Mary Jane, 32, Samuel Ezra West, 14, Joseph Anderson West, 12, William Heber West, 10, Moroni Edward West, 8. John was working as a farmer, Mary was keeping house, and Sam, Joe and William were all listed as laborers (probably on the family farm), and also living in the home were two girls listed as boarders, Sarah and Martha West, but I'm not sure of their relationship to the family.

On the same census page was Jesse Nathaniel Smith, John Anderson West's brother-in-law, who was married to John's sister, Emma Seraphine West. Jesse, 45, Emma, 44, and their children were listed as: Jesse Nathaniel, Jr., 19, Sarah E., 14, Silas D., 12, John W., 8, and Samuel F., 6. Also in the same home was Jesse Nathaniel Smith's plural wife, Augusta Outzen (from Denmark), 26, and their children, Georgiana B., 9, Augusta B., 7, Robert C., 5, and Martha A., 2. In addition, another of Jesse's plural wives, Janet M. Johnson Smith, 32, was also in the home, along with her children, Susan J., 11, Sariah A., 7, Julia J., 4, Priscilla, 3, and Editha 1.

In the 1880 U.S. Federal Census for Parowan, Iron County, Utah, John Anderson West's first wife, Betsy Jane Fish West, 44 was listed as being divorced from John, and was living with her son, John Anderson West, 15, Horace, 13, and Sarah, 11. Betsy was keeping house and her sons John and Horace were working as laborers.

By the 1900 U.S. Census, William Heber West had left Snowflake, Arizona, and moved back to Utah. He was living at 335 West North Temple Street, Salt Lake City, Ward 3, with his wife and children, and his occupation was as a coal miner. They were listed there as William, 31, (Jeanette) Nettie Mann West, 26, their son, Willie E., 8, and daughter Queenia, 4. William and Nettie had been married 9 years, having married January 28, 1891, in Apache County, Arizona.

In the 1900 U.S. Federal Census for Huntington, Emery County, Utah, John Anderson West, Sr.'s first wife, Betsy was listed as widowed, although John Anderson West, Sr., did not die until September 28, 1917. Betsy was living with her son John Anderson West, Jr., 35, his sister Sarah Anna West Crandall, 31, and her husband Delos D. Crandall, 41, and their children, Nellie J, 12, Ernest D., 9, Horace A., 6, Edward T., 3, and Maud, 8 months old. Betsy was listed as a farmer, and her son as a farm laborer.

In the 1910 U.S. Federal Census for Snowflake, Navajo, Arizona, John Anderson West, Sr., was still living in Snowflake, Arizona, with his plural wife, Mary Jane West, and they were listed as John, 79 and Mary Jane, 61. Not long after this, John and Mary Jane returned to Utah, and Mary Jane passed away there in 1914, and John in 1917.

In the 1910 U.S. Census, William and his family were living in Croyden, Morgan county, Utah, and were listed as: William, 40, Nettie M., 36, William E., 17, Queenia, 14, Hazel, 9, and Percy L, 7. William was working as a miner in the metal mines, and his son William was a clerk at a cement plant. Also in the home were three boarders, William J. Buckley, 23, Harry Hart, 24, and William Hickman, 22, who were from Missouri in the case of Buckley & Hart, and Hickman was from Colorado. Their occupations were listed as a boiler maker, a pipe fitter and a machinist in a cement plant.

In the 1920 U.S. Federal Census, the family had moved to Churchill, Cassia County, Idaho, and were listed there as William Heber, 50, Nettie M., 45, William E., 28, Hazel N., 19, Percy L., 17. William's brother Wilford Cooper West, 28, was also living in the home with the family. Interesting that William Heber's son, William Edward, was the same age as his Uncle, Wilford Cooper West. In this census, William Heber was working as a farmer, his son William E. was working on the home farm, and William Heber's brother, Wilford, was working as a plumber in a plumbing shop.

By the 1930 U.S. Federal Census, William Heber, 60 and his wife Nettie, 56, are living alone in Murtaugh, Twin Falls County, Idaho, and they were renting a home for $8.00 per month. They had been married 40 years. William was working as a produce dealer. Nettie's parents were from Canada, and William's father was born in Tennessee and his mother in Utah.

In the 1940 U.S. Federal Census, William, 70, and Nettie, 66, were living in Oakley, Cassia County, Idaho, at 143 Oakley Street, and in 1935 they lived in rural, Twin Falls County, Idaho. The highest grade they achieved in school was one year of high school for William and eight years of elementary school for Nettie. They were still renting a home for $8.00 per month, and neither of them were working at the time. William passed away four years later November 17, 1944. Nettie Mann West passed away March 27, 1951. She was born October 2, 1873, in Cottonwood, Salt Lake, Utah. In a listing of her death, her parents were shown to be Oscar Mann and Martha Thayne, both born in Canada.

In a listing of Membership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830-1848, the West family was shown as:

John Anderson West

Betsy Jane Fish, spouse

Mary Jane Robinson, spouse

Samuel Ezra West

Joseph Anderson West

William Heber West

Moroni Edward West

Amulec Isaac West

James Alma West

Oliver Robinson West

Mary West

Robert McCord West

Susan West

Wilford Cooper West

There is a separate listing of membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830-1848, for Betsey Jane Fish, born August 10, 1836, in Hatley, Quebec, Canada, along with her father, Horace Fish, her mother, Hannah Leavitt, and her siblings, Julia, Sarah, Joseph and Frankin Richards Fish.

In a list of Pioneer Immigrants to Utah Territory, Betsy Jane Fish was listed as follows: Female, born 1837 in Illinois, Religion - LDS, Spouse, John Anderson West, Father, Horace Fish, Mother, Hannah Leavitt, Departure Place was the Missouri River and their departure date was June 3, 1850. They traveled in the Milo Andrus Company, and her traveling company included her father, Horace, 50, mother, Hannah, 45, sisters: Julia, 24, Anna Maria, 8, brothers: Joseph, 10, Franklin Richard, 2, who were just part of the Leavitt family. They took the Mormon Trail to Utah. They arrived August 29, 1950, and settled in Centerville, Parowan County, Utah. The information source is listed as being submitted by Vonna F. Polard, and she says her source was from family histories and group sheets in her possession as well as the book, Heart Throbs of the West. The submission date of this information was November 4, 1991.

There is a Family Data Collection - Individual Records, about John Anderson West, saying his spouse was Betsy Jane Fish and his parents were Samuel Walker West and Margaret Cooper West, he was born in Benton, Chalk Level, Tennessee, on December 19, 1830, and was Married May 19, 1854, and died September 28, 1917 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

There is a Millennium File for Mary Jane Robinson showing she was born October 24, 1848, in Farmington, Davis County, Utah, and died August 15, 1914, in Salt Lake City, Utah, and that her mother's name was Susan McCord. The cause of death for Mary Jane Robinson was mitral insufficiency and general debility at the age of 65 years, 9 months and 21 days old. At the time of her death, her husband, John Anderson West, signed the death certificate, and they were living at 718 9th Avenue in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was buried in the City Cemetery in Salt Lake City on August 18, 1914.